Abstract
Digital literacy competence (DL) is an important capacity for students’ learning in a rapidly changing world. However, little is known about the empirical structure of DL. In this paper, we review major DL assessment frameworks and explore the dimensionality of DL from an empirical perspective using assessment data collected using authentic software applications, rather than simulated assessment environments. Secondary analysis on representative data collected from primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong using unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory reveals a general dimension of digital literacy performance and four specific, tool-dependent dimensions. These specific DL dimensions are defined by the software applications that students use and capture commonality among students’ performance that is due to their familiarity with the assessment tools and contexts. The design of DL assessment is discussed in light of these findings, with particular emphasis on the influence of the nature of digital applications and environments used in assessment on the DL achievement scores measured.
Highlights
Digital representation of information and its communication through digital technologies has transformed the way we work, learn, express ourselves, and even the way we think, as humans are challenged by the cognitive, informational, technological, and socio-emotional demands of the digital world (List et al 2020; Littlejohn et al 2012)
The results showed that by and large, the Digital Competence Framework (DIGCOMP) 2.1 framework is comprehensive enough to encompass the functional competences identified in the diverse contexts represented by the usage examples, with an important caveat: The same digital literacy competence (DL) may be accomplished in very different ways depending on the nature and sophistication of the devices and software applications used
We identified three DL assessments that were conducted at the national level with a relatively large scale
Summary
Digital representation of information and its communication through digital technologies has transformed the way we work, learn, express ourselves, and even the way we think, as humans are challenged by the cognitive, informational, technological, and socio-emotional demands of the digital world (List et al 2020; Littlejohn et al 2012). There is much overlap in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes deemed to be necessary in order to use digital technology for work, leisure and well-being in the twenty-first century (Siddiq et al 2017; van Laar et al 2017; Voogt and Roblin 2012), and the labels used to refer to such competence are various. It appears that these labels change over time with the pervasiveness of digital technology adoption in the society. DL is the term preferred in this paper, because it refers to all kinds of digital devices of different form factors as well as digital environments that operate across hardware and software platforms
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