Scaffolding Digital Literacy Through Digital Skills Training for Disabled People in the Global South

Background:Digital skills training to increase the competitiveness of teaching staff is related to the development of digital pedagogical skills that are relevant to 21st century learning. Digital skills training can be provided to educational staff, such as teachers and lecturers, through vocational education programs and digital skills courses. Research purposes:This research was conducted with the aim of finding out how much impact digital skills training has on increasing the competitiveness of teaching staff to find out and analyze how digital skills training affects the competence and competitiveness of teaching staff in the digital era. This research aims to support the development of relevant and effective digital skills training programs to improve the competence of teaching staff, so that they can help create a workforce that is ready to face the challenges of the digital economy. Method:The method used in this research is a quantitative method.This method is a way of collecting numerical data that can be tested. Data was collected through distributing questionnaires addressed to students. Furthermore, the data that has been collected from the results of distributing the questionnaire will be accessible in Excel format which can then be processed using SPSS. Results:From the research results, it can be seen thatDigital skills training is one way to increase the competitiveness of teaching staff. To increase the competitiveness of teaching staff, it shows that this training can influence the competency and competitiveness of teaching staff in the digital era. Digital skills training can help educators develop relevant digital pedagogical skills, which will help them adapt to increasingly sophisticated learning needs and integrate digital technologies in teaching. Conclusion:Digital skills training can help educators develop digital pedagogical skills that are relevant to twenty-first century learning. This will help them adapt to increasingly sophisticated learning needs and integrate digital technology in teaching.

Problem-based learning (PBL) has emerged as an innovative educational approach, and it is increasingly gaining its prominence in the higher education in Malaysia. Past research shows that digital literacy competence has strong and positive influence on academics’ motivation and academic productivity. However, there is little research carried out to examine the impact of digital literacy skills on the improvement of learning performance of university students in PBL environment. This study aims to examine the influence of digital literacy skills training on the learning performance of university students in the Physics course conducted in PBL approach. This study utilises Solomon four-group design by setting up two experimental groups and two control groups for the experiment. Seventy eight students in the School of Liberal Arts and Science of Taylor’s University in Malaysia participated in this study. The study investigated whether digital literacy skills training would improve the learning performance of the university students and if a cause and effect relationship existed between digital literacy skills training and learning performance. The independent variable of this study was the digital literacy skills training. The dependent variables were the learning performance scores which constitute two subjective measures, namely, learning satisfaction and learning attitude, and one objective measure, the learning score. A between-group factorial ANOVA showed that the treatment of digital literacy did have an impact on learning performance. The findings inferred that there was a cause and effect relationship (causation) between digital literacy skills training and improvement in learning performance of university students in PBL environment. The philosophy of learning through problem-solving process in PBL is conceptually parallel to digital literacy competency standards for higher education. This study confirmed that digital literacy skills training may help raise the learning performance of university students learning under PBL environment.

This study examined the impact of digital skills training programs on the work efficiency and job satisfaction of small business employees in Metro Manila. Specifically, it explored how digital training influences task accuracy, timeliness in completing work, productivity, motivation, career development, and perceived organizational support. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, data were gathered from 169 employees who had participated in digital skills training within the past one to two years. A self-made questionnaire measured respondents' perceptions, and statistical tools such as weighted mean and Pearson's r were employed for analysis. Findings revealed that digital skills training significantly improved employees' work efficiency, particularly in terms of task accuracy, time management, and overall productivity. Respondents also reported higher levels of job satisfaction, noting increased motivation, stronger engagement, improved confidence in handling responsibilities, and enhanced opportunities for career growth. Moreover, results showed a very high positive correlation between work efficiency and job satisfaction, indicating that employees who performed more efficiently were also more satisfied with their jobs. The study concluded that digital skills training serves as a vital mechanism for improving both employee performance and workplace well-being. It is therefore recommended that small business organizations sustain and further develop structured digital training programs to strengthen productivity, enhance employee satisfaction, and support long-term organizational growth in an increasingly digital environment.

[This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the 2019 issue of the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, Volume 16] Aim/Purpose: To capture digital training experiences, the paper introduces a novel data collection method – a graphic questionnaire. It aims to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of this tool for collecting feedback from socially disadvantaged participants of digital literacy training about their progress. Background: In training of digital skills for disadvantaged audiences through informal educational interventions, it is important to get sufficient knowledge on factors that lead to their progress in the course of training. There are many tools to measure the achievements of formal education participants, but assessing the effectiveness of informal digital skills training is researched less. The paper introduces a small-scale case study of the training programme aimed at the developing of reading and digital skills among the participants from three socially disadvantaged groups – people with hearing impairments, children from low income families, and elderly persons. The impact of the training on participants was evaluated using different tools, including a short graphic questionnaire to capture the perceptions of the participants after each training. Methodology: We performed a thematic analysis of graphic questionnaires collected after each training session to determine how the students perceived their progress in developing literacy and digital skills. Contribution The findings of the paper can assist in designing assessment of digital literacy programmes that focus not only on final results, but also on the process of gaining digital skills and important factors that facilitate progress. Findings: The graphic questionnaire allowed the researchers to get insights into the perception of acquired skills and progressive achievements of the participants through rich self-reports of attitudes, knowledge gained, and activities during training sessions. However, the graphic questionnaire format did not allow the collection of data about social interaction and cooperation that could be important in learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graphic questionnaires are useful and easy-to-use tools for getting rich contextual information about the attitudes, behaviour, and acquisition of knowledge in digital literacy training. They can be used in applied assessments of digital literacy training in various settings. Their simplicity can appeal to respondents; however, in the long-run interest of respondents in continuing self-reports should be sustained by additional measures. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may explore the variety of simple and attractive research instruments, such as “honeycomb” questionnaires and similar, to facilitate data collection and saturate feedback with significant perception of personal experiences in gaining digital literacy skills. Impact on Society: Designing effective digital literacy programmes, including engaging self-assessment methods and tools, aimed at socially disadvantaged people will contribute to their digital inclusion and to solving the issues of digital divide. Future Research: Exploration of diverse research methods and expanding the research toolset in assessing digital literacy training could advance our understanding of important processes and factors in gaining digital skills.

Aim/Purpose: To capture digital training experiences, the paper introduces a novel data collection method – a graphic questionnaire. It aims to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations of this tool for collecting feedback from socially disadvantaged participants of digital literacy training about their progress. Background: In training of digital skills for disadvantaged audiences through informal educational interventions, it is important to get sufficient knowledge on factors that lead to their progress in the course of training. There are many tools to measure the achievements of formal education participants, but assessing the effectiveness of informal digital skills training is researched less. The paper introduces a small-scale case study of the training programme aimed at the developing of reading and digital skills among the participants from three socially disadvantaged groups – people with hearing impairments, children from low income families, and elderly persons. The impact of the training on participants was evaluated using different tools, including a short graphic questionnaire to capture the perceptions of the participants after each training. Methodology: We performed a thematic analysis of graphic questionnaires collected after each training session to determine how the students perceived their progress in developing literacy and digital skills. Contribution The findings of the paper can assist in designing assessment of digital literacy programmes that focus not only on final results, but also on the process of gaining digital skills and important factors that facilitate progress. Findings: The graphic questionnaire allowed the researchers to get insights into the perception of acquired skills and progressive achievements of the participants through rich self-reports of attitudes, knowledge gained, and activities during training sessions. However, the graphic questionnaire format did not allow the collection of data about social interaction and cooperation that could be important in learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: Graphic questionnaires are useful and easy-to-use tools for getting rich contextual information about the attitudes, behaviour, and acquisition of knowledge in digital literacy training. They can be used in applied assessments of digital literacy training in various settings. Their simplicity can appeal to respondents; however, in the long-run interest of respondents in continuing self-reports should be sustained by additional measures. Recommendations for Researchers: Researcher may explore the variety of simple and attractive research instruments, such as “honeycomb” questionnaires and similar, to facilitate data collection and saturate feedback with significant perception of personal experiences in gaining digital literacy skills. Impact on Society: Designing effective digital literacy programmes, including engaging self-assessment methods and tools, aimed at socially disadvantaged people will contribute to their digital inclusion and to solving the issues of digital divide. Future Research: Exploration of diverse research methods and expanding the research toolset in assessing digital literacy training could advance our understanding of important processes and factors in gaining digital skills.

: Skill training, retention, and assessment research from academia, industry, and the government is reviewed and its implications for digital skill training are discussed. Factors that affect digital skill retention are procedural (e.g., the timing and sequencing of training trials, training techniques employed), individual (e.g., intelligence or background knowledge), and task related (e.g.,the number of steps per task, the cognitive difficulty of selected steps). Some of these factors have also been shown to impact digital operator training, but additional research needs to be done. Few experiments have made broad comparisons across all variables or have effectively quantified ways to evaluate or design effective digital training. Recommendations about how to modify specific digital courses should be validated. Much less work has been done in the area of collective digital training despite the fact that this comprises the majority of the training prescribed in the Army Digital Training Strategy. Research on the assessment of digital skills has produced a number of tools and procedures for assessing digital skills for both individual and collective training. Many of these tools have been well received by units who have used them but the tools still need to be formally validated.

Youth unemployment is one of the most pressing issues confronting world leaders in the 21st century. Youth unemployment has negative implications for economic and social progress. In Nigeria, youth unemployment hit an all-time high of 55.4% in the third quarter of 2018. With almost all sectors been digitalised, digital skills become one of the most promising solutions to youth unemployment. It is a necessity for wage employment and in the creation of a personal business. However, anecdotal and empirical evidence shows that many youths lack the requisite skills for using digital technology productively. Hence, there is an increase in international and local efforts toward digital skills training for youths. This study reports the findings from a pilot digital skills training programme organised by the Double You Initiative in July 2019. It was based on a quantitative research approach with the use of an online questionnaire to obtain information from youths across Nigeria through a purposive sampling technique. The findings show that youths within the ages of 19 and 24 will likely subscribe more to digital skills training than any other age group. Also, undergraduate students are more interested in digital skills training, and the most common digital skill preference among youths is digital marketing. The lessons from the digital skills training reported in this paper can be useful in enhancing the preparedness of stakeholders towards the provision of digital skills training that will promote decent jobs for youths in Nigeria.

BackgroundThe integration of digital technologies is becoming increasingly essential in cancer care. However, limited digital health literacy among clinical and nonclinical cancer health care professionals poses significant challenges to effective implementation and sustainability over time. To address this, the European Union is prioritizing the development of targeted digital skills training programs for cancer care providers, the TRANSiTION project among them. A crucial initial step in this effort is conducting a comprehensive gap analysis to identify specific training needs.ObjectiveThe aim of this work is to identify training gaps and prioritize the digital skill development needs in the oncology health care workforce.MethodsAn importance-performance analysis (IPA) was conducted following a survey that assessed the performance and importance of 7 digital skills: information, communication, content creation, safety, eHealth problem-solving, ethics, and patient empowerment.ResultsA total of 67 participants from 11 European countries completed the study: 38 clinical professionals (CP), 16 nonclinical professionals (NCP), and 13 patients or caregivers (PC). CP acknowledged the need for a comprehensive training program that includes all 7 digital skills. Digital patient empowerment and safety skills emerge as the highest priorities for both CP and NCP. Conversely, NCP assigned a lower priority to digital content creation skills, and PC assigned a lower priority to digital information and ethical skills. The IPA also revealed discrepancies in digital communication skills across groups (H=6.50; P=.04).ConclusionsThe study showcased the pressing need for comprehensive digital skill training for cancer health care professionals across diverse backgrounds and health care systems in Europe, tailored to their occupation and care setting. Incorporating PC perspectives ensures a balanced approach to addressing these training gaps. These findings provide a valuable knowledge base for designing digital skills training programs, promoting a holistic approach that integrates the perspectives of the various stakeholders involved in digital cancer care.

This study looks at the effectiveness of digital skills training for creating digital magazines. It compares participant responses before and after a webinar called "Craft & Click: The Art of Modern E-Magazine." The research examines how factors affecting readiness relate to learning results and the development of confidence. Data was collected from 162 surveys before the webinar and 151 surveys after it. These surveys measured aspects like technical preparedness, previous experience, clarity of content, and confidence after training. The findings show a significant rise in participant confidence, with a 12% increase, and a notable jump in satisfaction ratings. Sixty-five per cent gave the highest ratings after the webinar, compared to 32.84% before it. The research highlights that practical demonstrations, clear explanations, and logical content flow are very effective in teaching digital publishing. This paper adds to the growing field of digital literacy by identifying key factors that influence successful learning in specialised digital skills training.

Youth unemployment is a subject of great concern in the developing world, particularly in developing nations, and among them is Kenya. These countries are characterized by the high population of youths who make up the majority of the unemployed in the nation. Governments and non-profit organizations are partnering to eradicate poverty and unemployment among the youth. To achieve this, novel ways, such as promoting digital skills training programs such as WFP's EMPACT and the Ajira. This research sought to address these shortages by analyzing the management practices and sustainability of training programs on WFP's EMPACT and the Ajira Digital skills training project in Kibera. It used a systematic sampling method of data collection accompanied by questionnaires. The results from this research will give a starting point for understanding the project's potential in Kenya and not just in Kibera. It will also provide insights and recommendations for the project's second phase by the Ministry of Planning in its efforts to use digital skills to end youth unemployment in the country. This study aimed to assess management practices and the sustainability of training programs. It was a case study that involved two training programs i.e. Ajira Digital training program and WFP’s EMPACT. Data was collected in Kibera slums in Nairobi City County. Its main objectives were to investigate how stakeholder participation affects the viability of digital skills development programs in Kibera slums, to ascertain how risk management strategies affect the viability of programs for teaching digital skills in Kibera slums, to establish the impact of evaluation and monitoring on the sustainability of the programs for teaching digital skills in Kibera and to examine how budgeting affects the viability of initiatives for teaching digital skills in Kibera slums. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The questions were close-ended. Data collected was examined systematically and then carefully analysed using EXCEL and SPSS. From the descriptive statistics results it was found out most of the respondents agreed to a great extent that leadership skills, project communications, resource allocation and cost management skills have an influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs a case of digital skills training projects in Kibera slums, Nairobi city county, Kenya. From the regression analysis it was revealed that leadership skills have a positive (B=.283), project communication has a negative (B=-112), resource allocation has a positive (B=0.496) and finally cost management skills have a positive (B=0.449) influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs a case of digital skills training projects in Kibera slums, Nairobi city county, Kenya. The overall model was considered first to explain the sustainability of digital training programs. The study therefore concluded that leadership skills have a significant and positive influence on the sustainability of digital training programs project communication has a negative but insignificant influence on the sustainability of digital training programs resource allocation has a positive and significant influence on the sustainability of the digital training programs that cost management skills positively and significantly influence sustainability of the digital training programs. The study recommends that management skills (leadership skills, project communication, resource and allocation and cost management skills ought to be considered as significantly influencing the sustainability of digital training programs.

Digital skills are a basic requirement in this era of work operation since personnel is required to use applications in executing every task. The skills needed to facilitate employee development are to ensure their participation in the training provided by the company. Several operating systems are used in daily operations in the hospital industry, thus, employees must improve their skills during the applications. This review aims to identify the importance of digital skills training in the hospitality industry and its influences on employees’ development. Based on the secondary data from previous studies, digital training had a significant impact on the development of employees’ skills at their workplace. The development of staff secures their growth through designed and structured processes at any level of management. Thus, the creation of employees is an orchestrated activity for their professional advancement. Presently, most jobs employ a certain level of technology but tasks are more efficiently executed by using advanced technology. Additionally, the employees need to demonstrate a high adoption rate in the usage of technology to align with the development of advanced technology. Therefore, future research involving a primary study should be conducted by collecting data from employees in the hospitality industry. The researcher may assess employees’ perspectives of acquired skills at the workplace. Meanwhile, the management might elucidate the efficiency of digital skills training towards employees’ development before and after the training.

This study focuses on the importance and effectiveness of digital competency training programs for public employees. In an era where digital technologies are rapidly evolving, it is essential for public employees to master these technologies and use them effectively. The study includes university institutions in Turkey as the sample. By highlighting the importance of digital training provided to staff at university institutions, this study will examine the training programs conducted in this area. Universities play a vital role in increasing the interaction of younger generations with digital technologies, developing their digital skills, and preparing them for the future. Through digital training, it is expected that the academic and administrative staff in universities will guide students in using digital technology. Furthermore, the digital competency training programs conducted are aimed at helping public employees improve their digital skills and raise awareness about digital technology.

This study explored the relationship between personal characteristics, digital application skills, and perceptions of electronic medical records (EMRs) among 208 registered nurses in four hospitals in Ormoc City, Leyte. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), it examined how factors like age, gender, education, clinical area, hospital classification, and digital training influence nurses' acceptance and use of EMRs in documentation. Key findings showed that stronger digital skills correlated with higher perceived utility of EMRs, aligning with TAM’s principle of perceived usefulness (PU). Digital training positively influenced ease of use, reflecting TAM’s perceived ease of use (PEOU), while clinical area and age significantly affected EMR perceptions. However, gender, education, and employment type had no significant impact on EMR utility. The study highlights the need for targeted digital training programs to improve EMR adoption and usage. Recommendations include a Nursing Digital Application and Documentation Skills Training Plan tailored to nurses’ specific needs to enhance digital integration in workflows.

Despite the growing need for digital research skills in education, many teachers struggle to acquire and implement these skills, leading to reduced confidence and competence. This case study investigated the impact of a targeted digital research skills training program on teachers’ self-reported confidence, competence, and classroom practices. Teachers participated in workshops and hands-on activities that promoted effective navigation and utilization of digital resources. Data collected through surveys, interviews, and classroom observations revealed a significant increase in teachers' confidence, competence, and integration of digital research skills in their teaching practices. Notably, the study uncovered a strong correlation between teacher digital competencies and student engagement, a finding that has received limited attention in previous literature. By emphasizing the role of digital research skills training in fostering teacher confidence and competence, this study highlights the importance of providing professional development opportunities that address teachers’ specific needs and challenges. Moreover, the findings suggest that such programs may contribute to improved student learning experiences, demonstrating the potential benefits of digital research skills training for the broader educational community.

In today’s digital world, access to technology and digital literacy is essential for successful reintegration into society, especially for incarcerated individuals. Incarcerated women face significant challenges due to limited access to digital tools and training during their sentences. This digital divide hinders their ability to re-entry, affecting opportunities for employment, communication, and social reintegration. This study aims to assess the digital skills and needs of incarcerated women and design a training program to bridge the digital gap. The goal is to equip them with the necessary digital competencies to help their resocialization, employment possibilities, and overall reintegration. Additionally, the project aims to advocate for the integration of technology in Macedonian prisons. In September 2023, a survey was conducted in the Women’s Ward of KPD Idrizovo as part of the DiCapSIW project. The survey assessed the incarcerated women’ digital skills and their access to technology. Based on the findings, six digital skills training modules were developed, covering areas such as digital literacy, job readiness, and online communication. The survey revealed a significant lack of digital skills among female inmates. Most respondents lacked basic competencies in areas such as job searching and document creation. However, all expressed motivation to participate in digital skills training, recognizing its importance for resocialization and post-release employment.