The Youth Digital Skills Indicator: Report on the conceptualisation and development of the ySKILLS digital skills measure

Abstract

This report presents the youth Digital Skills Indicator (yDSI), a unique, extensively crossnationally validated measurement tool with 31 items, distributed over digital skills and digital knowledge questions, that can be used for large-scale population research. The yDSI is the only measurement tool for youth digital skills that has been tested using the full range of validation practices. Over a period of six months, consultation with experts (face validity), cognitive interviews (content validity), pilot surveys (construct validity) and performance tests (criterion validity) with young people were conducted in a wide range of European countries. A review of the literature led to a framework identifying four dimensions that constitute digital skills: (1) technical and operational skills; (2) information navigation and processing skills; (3) communication and interaction skills; and (4) content creation and production skills.

The role of teacher support in the acquisition of digital skills associated with technology-based learning activities: the moderation of the educational level

“…However, it is unclear what kinds of digital skills are most associated with technology-based learning activities (Livingstone et al, 2021). Taking into account the dimensions most frequently indicated in the frameworks on digital skills (Helsper et al, 2020) and preceding findings (Eynon & Malmberg, 2011;Metzger et al, 2013;Scherer et al, 2017;Tang & Chaw, 2016;Tirado-Morueta et al, 2017), the following hypotheses were formulated: H2. Students who have a high level of digital operational (H2a), communication (H2b), creative (H2c) and information (H2d) skills will frequently carry out technology-based learning activities.…”

“…However, to understand the digital empowerment of students, it is necessary to address how these skills relate to each other. Although there are conceptual models, such as the cyclical model proposed by Coiro and Hobbs (2017) or the model by Helsper et al (2020) from which the critical aspects of skills are emphasized, there are few empirical studies (2023) 18:10 that focus on the analysis of their relationships (e.g., Tirado-Morueta et al, 2017). In this context, the authors formulated the following hypotheses: H3.…”

“…The framework used to measure digital skills (DS) was an adaptation of the scales used by Helsper et al (2020) and van Deursen et al ( 2014), using language understandable to both groups of students. The framework used the following domains, with values from 1 (not at all true of me) to 4 (very true of me): (a) operational skills, as the ability to configure and install software, connect, and share information on the Internet;…”

Can Overclaiming Technique Improve Self-Assessment Tools for Digital Competence? The Case of DigCompSat

“…Participants not only assess themselves too favourably but also claim to have traits they do not have or perform actions they do not perform (e.g. Helsper et al, 2020). For example, Hargittai (2009) showed that approximately 20% of participants claimed some understanding of made-up digital competence terms (i.e.…”

“…This should be done in a closed digital environment that allows for results standardisation and does not favour particular operational systems, browsers, search engines or devices. This seemingly simple task is so difficult that even though we have elaborate testing frameworks today (Deursen & Van Dijk, 2010), actual operating tests that can measure online search skills in a valid and reliable way are still scarce (Haddon et al, 2020;Hargittai & Hsieh, 2012;Helsper et al, 2020;ITU, 2020).…”