Development and validation of a digital literacy scale for teenagers

Abstract

Research related to digital literacy has grown exponentially in recent years. Its importance is that some scholars suggest that digital skills are a prevention tool against the risks of digital technologies. These risks are especially important because of their psychological consequences on adolescents. Thus, digital literacy could be a health prevention tool. The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a scale to assess digital literacy on teenagers. A self-report questionnaire with 47 items measured in a 5-point Likert scale was developed. After a pilot study, the questionnaire was administered to a sample composed by 715 secondary school students from 13 schools in Spain, aged between 12 and 20 years. Exploratory factor analysis revealed the existence of six factors: technological skill, personal security skill, critical skill, devices security skill, informational skill and communication skill. The scale demonstrated support for internal consistency reliability in most of the factors, with Cronbach's Alpha levels ranging from .63 to .75, and validity. Further research is needed to confirm the factor structure.

Teens’ Motivations to Spread Fake News on WhatsApp

“…Critical ability is "the capacity to critically analyze the information obtained" (Rodríguez- de-Dios et al, 2016de-Dios et al, , p. 1068).…”

“…Critical ability is “the capacity to critically analyze the information obtained” (Rodríguez-de-Dios et al, 2016, p. 1068). Learning to discern, taking time to think and reason about what is true and what is not, or what intentions a piece of information may have, as a previous step before sharing it, and also making this procedure a habit, that is, fostering critical literacy, is not a first-level curricular requirement, as Tickle (2018) reflects, although he is aware of its importance.…”

A study of the relationship between parental mediation and adolescents’ digital skills, online risks and online opportunities

“…In the present study we aim to check the validity and the structure of the Digital Literacy Scale that was previously developed (Rodríguez-de-Dios, Igartua, & Gonz alez-V azquez, 2016), based on research by Area and Pessoa (2012), Shapiro andHughes (1996), andCabero, Marín, andLlorente (2012). In this scale, six different skills were considered as being part of the broader concept of digital literacy, similar to previous research (Bunz, 2004;Helsper & Eynon, 2013;Lee & Chae, 2012;Sonck & de Haan, 2014;Zhang & Zhu, 2016): technological or instrumental skills (i.e., the ability to effectively use digital technologies), communication skills (i.e., the ability to communicate through digital technologies), information skills (i.e., the ability to find information, obtain it, and evaluate its relevance in the digital environment), critical skills (i.e., the ability to critically analyse the information obtained), personal security skills (i.e., the ability to manage privacy online and ensure personal safety) and devices security skills (i.e., the ability to take precautions to keep digital devices safe and avoid potential threats, such as viruses and spyware).…”

Digital literacy scale of English pre-service teachers and their perceived readiness toward the application of digital technologies

“…It is one of the strategies to yield qualified teachers in this 21 st century. A number of researchers conducting studies related to digital literacy scale measurements and teachers' readiness to engage in technological-based teaching and learning used their own and adapted models as the instruments [42][43][44][45].…”