Investigating the relationship between students' digital literacy and their attitude towards using ICT
Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Philosophy in Education
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the relationship between secondary school students’ digital literacy and their attitude towards using information and communication technology across three private secondary schools in Karachi, Pakistan. This study focuses on three major themes: students’ attitude towards using information and communication technology (ICT), digital literacy (DL) and the relationship between DL and attitude towards using ICT controlling for general and ICT related demographics. For this study, a survey questionnaire was developed by adapting two surveys related to attitude and DL. An attitude related questionnaire was adapted from Edmunds, Thorpe and Conole (2012) to investigate attitude and the DL questionnaire was adapted from online European Commission Digital Literacy (ECDL) to find students level of DL. An online version of the tool was used for data collection, and the data were collected through google forms. Additionally, focus group discussions were held to have deeper and richer data that would justify the results of the statistical analysis. The total sample size for this study was 344 secondary school students. About 50% of the participants were female. The results show that the participants’ attitude towards using ICT in education is positive regardless of their general and ICT related demographic characteristics. The analysis of the results from the DL questionnaire reveals an adequate level of DL among students. A majority of the students has positive attitude and adequate level of DL. Correlation analysis revealed a significant association between DL and students’ attitude towards using ICT in education. In addition, attitude towards using ICT was found to be correlated with ICT related variables. Further analysis showed that use of the tablet and smartphone, prior training in the use of computer and frequency of computer use significantly affect students’ attitude towards using ICT. This study has highlighted the importance of ICT related demographics which contribute towards developing students’ attitude to use ICT and level of DL. Based on the findings it is suggested to further research students’ attitude to use ICT and identify school and individual level factors that influence attitude towards use of ICT and DL.
Recommended Citation
Jan, S. (2017). Investigating the relationship between students' digital literacy and their attitude towards using ICT (Unpublished doctoral thesis). .