ERIC Number: EJ1060150
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1547-9714
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Examining Factors Predicting Students' Digital Competence
Hatlevik, Ove Edvard; Guðmundsdóttir, Gréta Björk; Loi, Massimo
Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, v14 p123-137 2015
The purpose of this study was to examine factors predicting lower secondary school students' digital competence and to explore differences between students when it comes to digital competence. Results from a digital competence test and survey in lower secondary school will be presented. It is important to learn more about and investigate what characterizes students' digital competence. A sample of 852 ninth-grade Norwegian students from 38 schools participated in the study. The students answered a 26 item multiple-choice digital competence test and a self-report questionnaire about family background, motivation, and previous grades. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of the hypothesised relationship between family background, mastery orientation, previous achievements, and digital competence. The results indicate variation in digital competence among the ninth-graders. Further, analyses showed that students' conditions at home, i.e., language integration and cultural capital, together with mastery orientation and academic achievements predict students digital competence. This study indicates that that there is evidence of digital diversity between lower secondary students. It does not seem like the development of digital competence among the students happens automatically. Students' family background and school performance are the most important factors. Therefore, as this study shows, it is necessary to further investigate how schools can identify students' level of competence and to develop plans and actions for how schools can help to try to equalize differences.
Descriptors: Predictor Variables, Secondary School Students, Technological Literacy, Competence, Technology Uses in Education, Grade 9, Multiple Choice Tests, Questionnaires, Student Characteristics, Structural Equation Models, Family Characteristics, Grades (Scholastic), Motivation, Mastery Learning, Academic Achievement, Correlation, Family Environment, Language Usage, Cultural Capital, Foreign Countries, Statistical Analysis, Regression (Statistics)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Grade 9; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A