Technology, Media & AI Literacy
Knowing how to use a phone is not the same as being capable with technology. Adults need to recognize scams and manipulation, protect personal information, create useful work, and know when an AI answer needs checking.
Digital, Media, and AI Literacy for Teens
The Floor sets practical digital and media requirements. The broader domain includes making with technology, understanding platforms, evaluating information, and using AI responsibly.
What young adults should be able to do by 18 · The formal Floor: Domain 9
The Floor for This Domain
The non-negotiable minimum. This is the contract, not the menu — what a floor-complete 18-year-old must actually be able to do.
- Use technology as a tool to get things done—not dependent, not afraid, just competent
- Learn new software, platforms, and devices without hand-holding—figure it out, find the documentation, ask the right questions
- Collaborate effectively with AI tools—know what they're good at, where they fail, and how to get useful output without outsourcing their thinking
- Protect themselves online: manage passwords, recognize scams and phishing, understand what data they're giving away and to whom
- Control their attention—notice when tech is manipulating them (notifications, feeds, autoplay) and set boundaries that work
- Evaluate online information: trace sources, cross-check claims, recognize when they're in an echo chamber or being fed garbage
- Troubleshoot basic problems—hardware and software—before calling for help
- Understand that tech is built by humans with agendas, has tradeoffs, and isn't neutral or inevitable
- Function without tech when necessary—not helpless if the power goes out or the phone dies
Not on the Floor
- Coding fluency
- Building apps or websites
- Being "good with computers" as an identity
- Staying current on every new platform
The Broader Map
The fuller landscape this domain engages over time. Inclusion here does not by itself make a competency mandatory.
Core Outcomes
- Use tech as a tool, not a crutch
- Collaborate effectively with AI & digital systems
- Stay safe, skeptical & adaptive in a fast-moving digital world
Key Competencies
- Digital navigation & software fluency
- AI collaboration (GPTs, copilots, automation) without outsourcing thinking
- Online safety, privacy, phishing / scam awareness & digital rights
- Managing digital identity & reputation
- Screen-balance & tech-life boundaries
- Handling distraction, info-fatigue & overwhelm
- Psych & social impacts of platforms
- Troubleshooting & hardware independence
- Information literacy (search, source tracing, vetting, cross-checking)
- Digital creation: video, podcast, music, app, website
- Understanding digital trade-offs & analog fallbacks
- Attention control, platform incentives & tech-life boundary setting
Evidence Examples
code commits, content channels, security audits, screencast tutorials, etc.
How It Builds
Mixed-runway domain. Core habits (attention control, skepticism, not being helpless) build early. Specific tech skills can be learned quickly when relevant. Tech will change dramatically—the goal is adaptability, not platform mastery.
Written for adults: developmental signals are prompts to investigate, not diagnoses or verdicts.
Early Childhood (18 months – 5 years)
On track
- Can engage without screens for extended periods
- Has activities they prefer to screens
- Transitions away from screens without meltdown
- If using tech: understands it's a tool, not the world
- Basic safety understanding (doesn't share info with strangers)
Worth investigating
- Cannot function without screens
- Severe dysregulation when screens removed
- No interest in non-digital activities
- Already showing addictive patterns
What's building: Attention span. Real-world engagement. Screen balance habits.
Middle Childhood (6 – 9 years)
On track
- Uses devices for specific purposes
- Knows basic online safety (doesn't share personal info)
- Can troubleshoot simple tech problems
- Maintains significant non-screen activities
- Beginning media skepticism ('is this real?')
- Can pause/stop when asked
Worth investigating
- Screen use dominates all free time
- Cannot transition without major conflict
- No concept of online safety
- Believes everything online
- Helpless with any tech problem
What's building: Basic digital literacy. Online safety. Screen balance. Beginning skepticism.
Late Childhood / Early Adolescence (10 – 13 years)
On track
- Uses tech productively, not just consumption
- Manages screen time with reasonable success
- Recognizes manipulation (clickbait, engagement tricks)
- Cross-checks information before believing
- Understands digital footprint and privacy
- Can troubleshoot moderate tech problems
- Has significant life outside screens
- Beginning to use AI tools effectively
Worth investigating
- Cannot control tech use; addictive patterns
- Believes everything online without question
- No concept of privacy or digital footprint
- Tech use interfering with sleep/school/relationships
- Completely helpless without devices
What's building: Information literacy. Attention control. Productive tech use. AI familiarity.
Adolescence (14 – 18 years)
On track
- Uses tech as tool to get things done
- Learns new platforms without hand-holding
- Collaborates effectively with AI tools
- Protects themselves online (passwords, scams, privacy)
- Controls attention; sets boundaries
- Evaluates online information: neither gullible nor nihilistic
- Troubleshoots problems before asking for help
- Understands tech has agendas and tradeoffs
- Functions without tech when necessary
Worth investigating
- Cannot learn new tech without extensive help
- Cannot protect themselves online
- Cannot control tech use
- Believes everything or nothing online
- Helpless without devices
- Uses AI to avoid thinking, not enhance it
What's building: Adaptable tech competence. AI collaboration. Online self-protection. Attention control.