The information skills and technology use of 3,159 Finnish 12-22-year-old students were examined in this study. Data were collected using the combination of a usage habit questionnaire and a performancebased test that measured their skills when choosing a medium to seek information, defining search queries, and selecting and evaluating search results. On average, these students' information skills were found to be insufficient. Particularly, students failed in creating search phrases, and they tended to concentrate on content relevance at the expense of source reliability. Versatility of technology use was found to be the most prominent predictor of students' information skills. Education level also had an increasing effect on information skills, whereas age alone, within separate education levels, did not have the same effect. Self-efficacy was found to be associated only with male students' information skills. Gender had no direct effect on information skills; rather it was identified as a moderator for the ongoing relationship between information skills and technology use.
The adoption of technology in teaching has been identified to relate to various factors from attitudes and self‐efficacy to subjective norms and digital references. The aim of this study is to broaden the perspective to hierarchical grouping effects. Multilevel modelling of the study utilizes the data of 2355 Finnish basic education teachers. The results show that, before the coronavirus pandemic, Finnish teachers used digital devices in teaching at least once a week, on average, and many times on a daily basis, varying according to the subject being taught. The variation in teachers' technology usage occurs mainly at the individual level, with a small proportion between schools; higher‐level hierarchies proved redundant in the context of Finland. At the teacher level, digital skills, age, and digital self‐efficacy increase technology usage in teaching. At the end, the significance and limitations of the research and the direction of future research in the post‐pandemic era are discussed.
Along with the digitalisation of societies and services, the accessibility of digital content has become the focus of attention. However, emphasis has been on technical accessibility, ignoring the large number of people suffering from cognitive challenges that are expected to increase as the population ages. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the problem affects not only the elderly but also the young. Utilising multivariate methods and a data set of 14,892 young Finns, the study examines the impact of educational disparities on young people’s digital usage and skills. It is observed that the level of education, the form of education and the regularity of the education path are related to differences in digital abilities of young people. Based on the results, the risks of being excluded from digital inclusion accumulate among adolescents for the youngest, but especially for those with a wide range of language, learning or motivational difficulties that manifest as delays in education path. As is known from previous research, such differences are expected to be reinforced in later life, threatening to become rather determinative.
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