Digital Literacy – Year 2

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Digital Literacy in Year 2 builds on the competences developed in Year 1 and leads towards increasingly independent, critical and responsible use of digital technologies.

Students evaluate accessibility and media services, choose suitable software, work with data, understand key principles of the internet and networks, explore licences and copyright, create their own media and programs, and participate responsibly in digital communication.

Teaching is organised around the five competence areas of the Austrian curriculum: Orientation, Information, Communication, Production and Action. Topics are also linked to the three perspectives of the Frankfurt Triangle: T = technology, G = society and I = interaction.

What you should be able to do by the end of Year 2

You can, among other things:

evaluate digital services, media and technologies in terms of usefulness, effects, accessibility and possible interests;
choose suitable software for different tasks and use important settings independently;
collect, sort, filter and calculate data in Excel or Calc and present results in charts;
explain the basic meaning of internet, World Wide Web, browser, client, server, domain, DNS, upload and download;
describe data packets and the forwarding of information in networks using simple models;
use e-mail, messaging services and other communication media appropriately and with data minimisation in mind;
recognise advertising, platform interests, personalisation and attention mechanisms in social media;
understand Creative Commons licences, OER, Open Source and basic copyright rules;
create, test and debug simple programs using input, output, variables and conditions;
plan, edit and responsibly publish visual, audio and audiovisual media;
understand hardware, operating systems, applications and network devices as interacting parts of digital systems;
exchange files using suitable storage and network methods and choose sharing permissions deliberately;
weigh up opportunities and risks relating to digital participation, health and sustainability.

Competence areas and chapters

Orientation

In the competence area Orientation, students place digital media and technologies in social, economic and environmental contexts and critically reflect on their own use.

Information

In the competence area Information, students work with data in a structured way and understand basic technical principles of the internet and networks.

Communication

In the competence area Communication, students analyse digital forms of communication, social media and participation and use them responsibly.

Production

In the competence area Production, students create and edit digital content, work with open and protected works and develop their first programs.

Action

In the competence area Action, students learn to choose and adapt digital systems for a task, connect them and evaluate them from the perspectives of different users.

Curriculum mapping

Chapter	Competence area	Perspectives
Accessibility and Usability	Action	G, I
Media Production and Consumption	Orientation	G, I
Software for Different Tasks	Action	T, I
Digital and Analogue	Orientation	T, G
Collecting, Filtering and Sorting Data	Information	T, I
Internet and Data Transmission	Information	T
Licence Models	Production	G, I
Networks and Internet Communication	Information	T
Communication Media and Manipulation	Communication	G, I
Social Media	Communication	G, I
Programs and Data	Production	T
Programming, Testing and Debugging	Production	T, I
Intellectual Property and Copyright	Production	G, I
Visual, Audiovisual and Audio Content	Production	G, I
Hardware and Software	Action	T
Digital Devices on a Network	Action	T, I
Digital Participation	Communication	G, I
Digital Services, Health and the Environment	Orientation	G, I

Practical basic skills

In Year 2, students deepen practical skills required for independent work with digital devices and services. These include:

choosing software according to task, functions, usability, cost, privacy and compatibility;
using Word or Writer for structured texts and PowerPoint or Impress for clear presentations;
using Excel or Calc for tables, formulas, sorting, filtering and charts;
choosing suitable file formats such as DOCX, ODT, XLSX, ODS, PPTX, ODP, PDF, PNG and JPG;
using browsers, URLs and search functions safely;
writing e-mails with a meaningful subject, appropriate recipients and correctly selected attachments;
using To, CC and BCC appropriately and with data minimisation in mind;
exchanging files locally, via USB, network shares or cloud storage;
assigning read, comment and edit permissions appropriately;
distinguishing WLAN/Wi-Fi, LAN/Ethernet and Bluetooth according to their purpose;
narrowing down simple network and connection problems systematically;
analysing media and social-media content in terms of intention, design, advertising and platform interests;
creating media products with suitable software and checking sources, rights and accessibility;
planning small programs, testing them step by step and fixing errors systematically.

Aim of Year 2

By the end of Year 2, students should not only operate digital tools but increasingly be able to choose them for good reasons, place them in a technical context, evaluate them critically and use them independently. They can produce and analyse data and media, explain basic network and program logic, and take responsibility for security, privacy, rights and social consequences when communicating, publishing and collaborating.

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