According to NYSED, digital literacy is a multifaceted concept that extends beyond skills-based activities and incorporates both cognitive and technical skills. It refers to the ability to leverage computer technology to appropriately access digital information; to create, share, and modify artifacts; and to interact and collaborate with others.

It promotes student learning by providing a solid foundation for students to engage with online resources by utilizing digital tools effectively in the learning process.

Digital literacy can be summarized as using technology confidently and responsibly. Digital Use (using digital tools to create media responsibly) and Digital Citizenship (using online platforms and resources to promote positive and ethical behaviors within online communication) are the sub-concepts of Digital Literacy.

According to NYSED, computing affects many aspects of the world at local, national, and global levels. Individuals and communities influence computing through their behaviors and cultural and social interactions. In turn, computing influences new cultural practices. Informed citizens understand the ethical and social implications of the digital world, including equity and access to computing and computing technologies.

The Impacts of Computing standards promote an understanding of the evolving impact of computing technologies on society through many lenses, including personal, social, cultural, accessibility, legal, economic, and ethical.

Computational Thinking (CT) refers to the thought processes involved in expressing solutions as computational steps or algorithms that can be carried out by a computer. CT not only underpins all theory and application of computer science, but also influences all other subject areas.

CT plays an important role in supporting the creation of solutions to complex problems, both large and small. It extends beyond the general use of computers or technology to include specific skills such as designing algorithms, decomposing problems, and modeling phenomena. 

The NYS Computational Thinking Standards promote development of these foundational skills to help our children become effective problem solvers, logical thinkers and successful contributors to our future world.

In a digital world, all individuals have a responsibility to protect data and the computing resources they access. Cybersecurity encompasses the physical, digital, and behavioral actions that can be taken to increase this security.

These measures are meant to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data and computing resources, as well as ensure that they are accessible to the users who are supposed to have access to them.

The Cybersecurity standards prepare students to understand why data and computing resources need to be protected, who might access them, and why they might do so whether intentionally malicious or not.

It is important that students know how to employ basic safeguards to protect data and computing resources and how to appropriately respond if a breach occurs.