Digital Literacy Research from an International and Comparative Point of View

Abstract

The fear of a growing digital divide between those having access to the Internet and those who do not results from the still uneven distribution of digital media. Though the number of Internet users is rapidly growing, there is evidence for the further existence of a digital divide caused by the lack of digital literacy. Thus, the digital divide cannot be closed by access alone and becomes a matter of media education. To find appropriate methods for increasing digital literacy demands knowledge about the ways users deal with computers and the Internet. This knowledge is gained by empirical research in different formal and non-formal contexts of computer and Internet use. This introductory article to a special issue of Research in Comparative and International Education devoted to ‘Digital Literacy Research’ gives an insight into international data on Internet use and outlines a theoretical framework of digital literacy. It also discusses the single studies collected in the special issue. It shows that further research will profit by an international and comparative approach which considers national, cultural, social and age differences between the users.