An Investigation of Digital Literacy Levels of Middle School Students in Terms of Various Variables: The Case of Mersin Province

Abstract

With the rapid evolution of technology, digital literacy skills are becoming increasingly critical. Digital literacy involves individuals' abilities to access, analyze, evaluate and creatively use information. These abilities include the capacity to use, understand and critically evaluate traditional information technologies as well as the capacity to use digital tools such as digital media, internet resources and social media platforms. This study aims to determine the digital literacy levels of secondary school students and to evaluate the factors that may affect these levels. The effects of important variables such as gender, daily social media usage time, social media tool used on students' digital literacy levels were examined. The sample of the study consisted of 80 students (40 female and 40 male) between the ages of 10 and 12 studying in a middle school in Mersin, Türkiye. Digital literacy level was assessed using personal information form and Digital Literacy Scale. According to the results of the study, it was determined that the digital literacy levels of female students were generally higher than male students. A significant relationship was found between the frequency of social media use and information processing skills, and it was observed that students using YouTube and Pinterest had higher digital literacy levels in communication and security skills. These findings suggest that factors such as gender, frequency of social media use, and the social media tool used should be taken into consideration when planning digital literacy education.