Digital literacy constitutes the basis for citizenship in order to be effective and efficient in the 21st Century in professional and personal lives. The set of skills and competences integrating digital literacy are expected to be guaranteed in higher education. During the lockdown globally imposed for the COVID-19 pandemic, educational systems worldwide had to face many disruptive changes. The aim of this research is to present a comparative study of three countries’ higher education institutions (Spain, Italy, and Ecuador), analyzing how they have faced the global lockdown situation, focusing on the development of digital literacy. The methodological approach followed in this study was quantitative with an exploratory-correlational scope using a questionnaire designed ad hoc and applied in a sample of 376 students. Results point the necessity of enhancing the main aspects such as the teacher’s digital skills, sources for learning that may be adapted, communication between universities and students, and teaching methodologies that should be appropriate to the current context. Conclusions may suggest rethinking higher education learning and reinforcing main issues for this transformation, mainly: communication, teaching, and digital competences. Otherwise, digital literacy is not being guaranteed, which means higher education is not accomplishing one of its main objectives.

Media convergence and massive usage of Internet-connected devices, distinguishing features of our current society, cause changes in the way that new generations learn and access knowledge. In addition, emerging new digital skills are necessary for the Z generation to face the challenges of a digital society. This quantitative study, with a sample of 678 Primary School students, aims to provide empirical evidence about the level of digital skills of students belonging to this generation. The results show that the acquisition of digital competences is not inherent to use, but require specific instruction. Otherwise, there is a danger of creating a digital divide, not due to frequency of use or access to connected devices but to lack of instruction on how to use them. The absence of significant variance in the overall level of digital competence among Primary School students of different grades reflects, to some extent, that this level is largely acquired by informal activities with ICTs in an informal context, rather than by developing competences in a school context that affords gradual and progressive skills acquisition. The results show the need to address digital competence in schools, focusing on the systematic development and enhancement of its component areas to move beyond the informal level and reach the academic level, thus facilitating digital natives’ access to future employment. La convergencia mediática y el uso masivo de dispositivos conectados a Internet, rasgos distintivos de la sociedad actual, provocan cambios en el modo en el que las nuevas generaciones aprenden y acceden al conocimiento. Además, emergen nuevas competencias, las digitales, que la Generación Z necesita para afrontar los retos de una sociedad digitalizada. El estudio presentado, de corte cuantitativo, con una muestra de 678 alumnos de Educación Primaria, pretende aportar evidencias empíricas sobre el nivel de competencia digital del alumnado perteneciente a dicha generación. Los resultados revelan que no adquieren habilidades digitales de forma inherente sino que precisan de educación al respecto, atisbándose el peligro de una brecha digital, no por uso o acceso a ellas, sino por falta de competencia. La ausencia de diferencia significativa en el nivel general de competencia digital entre el alumnado de diferentes cursos de la etapa de Educación Primaria refleja que, en cierta medida, ese nivel se adquiere más por convivencia con las TIC en contextos informales que por un adecuado desarrollo en el contexto escolar que potencie gradual y progresivamente su adquisición. De los resultados se desprende, por tanto, la necesidad de abordar la competencia digital en la escuela, incidiendo en el desarrollo de las áreas que la componen y potenciándola para superar el nivel de uso en la vida cotidiana y acercarla al nivel académico que facilitará su inclusión al mundo laboral.

An increased use of social networks is one of the most far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from the traditional media, as the main drivers of social communication in crisis situations, individual profiles have emerged supported by social networks, which have had a similar impact to the more specialized communication media. This is the hypothesis of the research presented, which is focused on health communication and based on a virtual ethnography methodology with the use of social metrics. The aim is to understand the relationship established between the population in general and digital media in particular through the measurement of engagement. In this regard, a comparative study was carried out that describes this phenomenon over a period of six months on three social networks: YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, with a sample composed of specialized health media versus healthcare professionals. The results point to a new communications model that opens up a new space for agents whose content has a degree of engagement comparable to and even exceeding that of digital media specialized in health communication. The conclusions show that the crisis of the pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the communication sector, creating new challenges for the communication industry, media professionals, and higher education institutions related to market demands.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed training processes. The transition from face-to-face to virtuality has affected the entire educational process favoring one of the open innovation key features in the higher education institutions: the ability to manage knowledge flow. Open innovation in this crisis situation will encourage universities to deal with difficulties and embrace opportunities to enhance knowledge production. In this regard, the main objective of this work is to analyze how universities have managed knowledge flow during lockdown situation. The research presents a comparative study between three countries highly impacted by the coronavirus (Spain, Italy and Ecuador) based on perceptions from teachers and students on a convenience sample of 573 individuals. The study, of a descriptive and exploratory nature, applied surveys between March and April 2020 to students and teachers of Journalism, Communication. The survey had 2956 responses, collecting 65,032 pieces of evidence from students and 6468 from teachers. Teachers and students show their preference for being present, but they recognize the justification for the change of scenery and identify positive elements in virtuality. According to the findings obtained, the absence of presence has not generated an increase in the meetings between teachers and students. In addition, the tutorials have been shorter and sporadic. Added to this is a scant commitment to the variety of resources and options offered by the Internet. The predominance of textual material collides with the demand from students for a mixture of training resources, a greater role for the podcast and, especially, a typology of assessment tests that pass the traditional exams.

Digital literacy has been an emerging and increasing priority in many governments' educational and assessment policies since the first decade of the twenty-first century because it is a priority in citizenship training. The difficulty with understanding and developing it comes from its changing, transversal and flexible nature; for this reason, the fundamental objective of this research is to offer an exhaustive study of the concept by analysing the main models of digital literacy in the international context in order to offer a holistic model that incorporates the contributions from all of these initiatives. The theoretical study presented herein provides an objective, rigorous perspective on the main models of development of digital literacy: the DIGCOMP Project (European Commission), the Krumsvik model (Norway), the TPACK model (USA), the JISC model (UK), the ISTE Standards (USA) and the P21 model (USA). The conclusion offers an innovative proposal of four dimensions that should define digital literacy today, taking into account the five initiatives studied, which could be very worthwhile for researchers, educators and policymakers.

Social networks have become crucial communication channels for brands through awareness, engagement, and word of mouth. Instagram is firmly positioned as a direct gateway between brands and consumers, as it became the fifth most-used social network globally in 2021. As such, branded content is expected to increase the brand’s likability, by capturing the interest and attention of the consumer, which could differ depending on what social media platform is used. This study aims to analyze whether there is a relationship between the branded content published on the Instagram profile of luxury brands (Manolo Blahnik and Loewe) and the interactions of and with its followers, focusing on branded content communication associated to industrial, social responsibility, and commercial issues. A correlational study is presented using a quantitative methodology to test the hypotheses through an ANOVA analysis. The results show which type of content is more productive on Instagram’s social network profile, helping diffusion of the firm, as it provokes more reactions from followers when using branded content related to social responsibility. It is also worth noting the extent of the interactions that branded content shows within the brand, whose influence is detected not in averages but in reach. The study’s conclusions allow us to affirm that branded content directly impacts brand reputation, generating positive engagement in all the cases analyzed. The study contributes to a better understanding of the branded content effect on consumers.

Purpose This paper aims to increase the understanding of luxury brands’ branded content strategies concerning follower's engagement generated or not by happiness and well-being feelings spread in their branded content. Design/methodology/approach This study sample was composed of three of the most relevant luxury brands nowadays: Manolo Blahnik, Loewe, y Balenciaga. To address this research, an exploratory-correlational quantitative methodology was chosen; hypotheses were contrasted using ANOVA analysis with the SPSS software. Although the study can be considered quantitative, the first step of qualitative analysis was applied for content analysis with NVivo QSR software, categorizing all posts (N = 192) into three categories. Findings The dissemination of branded content and corporate social responsibility, despite being different in each case, show in general an interaction and affective commitment with their stakeholders. In the specific case of Manolo Blahnik and Loewe, they have prioritized their content, in the context of the pandemic, in posts related to social welfare, happiness, mental and physical health care. There are significant differences in the interaction with their audience, which respond very favorably to both “Happiness” and “Health and safety” content. Originality/value This study reveals how corporate social responsibility can be achieved using efficient communications in social networks. In this way, the perception of the image of the sector and the reputation can be improved – both sectoral and organizational – which unquestionably translates into economic gains for the brands.