What is digital literacy supposed to teach? Why is it a class? Is it worth the semester of time and work?
Digital literacy is a class that teaches kids how to navigate the world of technology. It focuses on how to use AI; more specifically how it brings awareness to how to use AI correctly and safely.
You learn how AI thinks, learns, sends out information, how to do basic programming, and understand cyber security.
Kids also learn how to protect themselves and how they can gain insight from looking at data.
“Learning how to protect yourself and be secure is very important this day and age,” said the digital literacy teacher at Lakeland High School, Connor Dremann.
This class was implemented just this year. It was made a required class to graduate by the Idaho’s Department of Education (IDE) for the class of 2028 and under.
During the 2025 legislative session, the Idaho Legislature accepted proposed changes to graduation requirements which officially codified the need for a digital literacy credit.
According to the Idaho Department of Education,
The legislature accepted proposed changes to Idaho graduation requirements in IDAPA 08.02.03.105 during the 2025 legislative session. A new digital literacy credit requirement is found in IDAPA 08.02.03.105.01.j. This requirement pertains to all students in grades 9 through 12.
“It is teaching digital citizenship and how to use the internet safely,” said principal Jimmy Hoffman.
The push for this class to be required for Idaho students to graduate was born from the fact that technology and AI is becoming a part of our society more and more.
The “Fourth R” is a conceptual framework introduced by Idaho educational leadership to modernize the traditional foundation of schooling.
Also stated in the Idaho Department of Education’s documents about the new class, “while education has historically focused on the “Three Rs”—Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic—the “Fourth R” stands for Reality.”
In the context of the Idaho State Department of Education’s new policy, “Reality” (the Fourth R) represents a fundamental shift in what is considered “basic” education for a student to survive and thrive in the modern world.
Ultimately, the Department of Education views “Reality” as a set of non-negotiable survival skills. By requiring this credit, the state is ensuring that students move beyond being passive users of technology to becoming informed navigators of it.
This means mastering computational thinking, the logic and algorithms that power our world, and digital citizenship, which involves understanding that every online action has a permanent “digital footprint” that follows a student into their future career.
