Enhancing digital literacy in education: educational directions

Abstract

PurposeThe significance of digital literacy in online social capital accumulation and surviving the contemporary society is widely recognised. Despite that the current generation is regarded as “digital natives”, their levels and nature of digital literacy vary. To generate educational insights, this study investigates the type(s) of digital literacy which are mostly related to the online social capital accumulation, and how one’s socio-economic background affects the connection between digital literacy and online social capital.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,747 participants aged 13–30 were invited to take part in a quantitative study. Spearman's rank correlation analysis, hierarchical regression analysis and mediation analyses were performed to investigate the relationship between participants' demographic background, engagement in the online platforms, digital literacy and online social capital.FindingsThe results showed that the creative dimension of digital literacy was mostly significantly predictive of online social capital accumulation. Also, education significantly affected the relationship between the creative dimension of digital literacy and online social capital more than demographic background.Originality/valueResults suggest that education helps enhance digital literacy, offsetting the influence of socio-demographic background. The author examines the implications of how to implement training programmes in youth settings to enhance students' digital literacy and benefit those who are marginalised.