Fluency skills are a very important set of skills that all people should have. With these skills a person can effectively interpret information, find meaning, develop content, accumulate knowledge and exchange ideas in a digital world (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021) . And due to the fact that technology keeps changing and updating, learning these skills is essential because it will assist in adapting to the changes in technology and succeed in the learning (school) and work environment where digital technologies are mostly used (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). The five fluency skills are, Information fluency, Solution fluency, Creativity fluency, Media fluency and Collaboration fluency.
Figure 1: Global Digital Citizen. 2013. Information fluency. (The Global Citizenship Foundation, 2013).
Information fluency
Information fluency is the skill to interpret information from various platforms and to extract credible, authentic and accurate information(The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021) . This is done by asking, acquiring information, analyzing the information, and apply the information to the real- world task. For example; When a student has to do an assignment which requires research the student will have to find the information either in books or the internet. But before the student makes use of the information on the internet or book they will first have to analyze whether the information is reliable and not misleading, that the information has been written by a reliable source and the information on the publication dates are provided. After the information has been deemed as credible authentic and accurate the student will then proceed in using it to complete the assignment.
Figure 2: Global Digital Citizen. [s.a.]. Solution fluency.( This is how the Solution Fluency looks in everyday life, [s.a.]).
Solution fluency
The Solution fluency is a skill that involves finding solutions to problems posed to us through an intuitive process (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). The Solution fluency goes hand in hand with information fluency because it is required that the information is correctly interpreted and knowledge is extracted from the information in order to find the solutions to the problem at hand (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021) . For example; a student was completed his assignment which is based on research but the lecturer questions the credibility and authenticity of the source that the student used. To solve this problem, the student together with his lecturer make use of the hyperlinks that the student has provided as a reference to analyze and verify if the source is reliable.
Figure 3: Future focused Learning. 2016. Creativity fluency. (The power of creativity, 2016).
Creative fluency
The Creative fluency is a skill to generate various ideas through language, science, mathematics, ,music and bodily movement (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). For example; A Bachelor of Music graduate is a musical person who loves and enjoys singing and playing musical instruments. Because of the love for music, this person would normally think in patterns, rhythms and sounds and they would find it rather very quick and easy to recognise patterns and notes, which means they have a deep understanding of music (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). Therefore a simple word can result in a new idea for a song.
Figure 4: Media and Collaboration fluency. 2020. (Media and Collaboration fluency, 2020).
Media fluency
Media fluency goes hand in hand with Collaboration fluency in order to be effectively digitally literate (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). Media fluency involves literacy and communication aspects .Media fluency is the skill to easily interpret messages convoyed on various types of media and to also communicate using various multimedia formats (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021) . For example, when students are able to use collaboration platform such as Whatsapp group chats or communication over chats on blackboard collaborate and can understand the various informal and formal writing styles used on these platform. And included in media fluency is the responsible use of media which is to consider the audience and what is deemed to be appropriate and what is considered unacceptable. For example in certain modules students have to create threads on Blackboard and write about a relevant topic in the module and other students are required to give feedback on the thread. It is required that students respond with respect and to also provide positive feedback.
Figure 5: Media and Collaboration fluency. 2020. (Media and Collaboration fluency, 2020).
Collaboration fluency
The term collaboration means to work together with others to achieve a common goal. In terms of the Collaboration fluency in the digital world, in order to collaborate there needs to be communication using digital multimedia tools (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). This is why the Collaboration fluency and Media fluency go and in hand. Therefore it is important to know the different media platforms that can be used when collaborating with others (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). When collaborating you need to know what the appropriate collaboration tool to use for certain events. For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 contact learning was suspended for several months and academic lectures had to move to a digital platform. Therefore lecturers needed to use a platform which allows them to share information with the large number of students and also when needed making use of camera by students. Lecturers decided on using either Zoom or Blackboard to teach their students as it was much easier than teaching over platforms such as Whatsapp. Also students who had to worked on tasks together over the Covid-19 lockdown used the collaboration platforms to put the task together.
It is very essential that students achieve digital fluency skills because it will help them to be efficiently make use of technology, decipher data, solve problems creatively, gather data (The IIE Digital citizenship module manual, 2021). These skills not only guarantee a student success in the learning environment, they also enable the possessors of these skills to adapt to changes in the technology in their school life, work life and personal life.
Reference list
Media and Collaboration fluency. 2020. Media and Collaboration fluency. [Online]. Available at:
[Accessed 9 June 2021].
The Global Citizenship Foundation. 2013. Information Fluency. [Online]. Available at:
Independent Institute of Education .2021. IIE Digital citizenship module manual. 1st ed revised edition 3. Johannesburg. Independent Institute of Education.
The power of creativity. 2016. Information fluency. [Online]. Available at: https://www.google.com/search?q=creativity%20fluency%20pictures&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&prmd=ivn&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CHgQrNwCKABqFwoTCPCAssOxjfECFQAAAAAdAAAAABAH&biw=360&bih=512#imgrc=eRdWISGo3cjSVM&imgdii=27K7QQbLw7SkjM [Accessed 9 June 2021].
This is how the Solution Fluency looks in everyday life. [s.a.]. Solution fluency. [Online]. Available at:https://www.google.com/search?q=solution+fluency+process&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&prmd=ivn&sxsrf=ALeKk03V_FxWv7pC5w0--y1WdXTn8wq96Q:1623357952936&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwia4oLR943xAhVdRkEAHW2WAmUQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=360&bih=512&dpr=1.5
[Accessed 9 June 2021).
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