Investigating the Adequacy of EFL Learners' L2 Digital Literacy Skills, Consistency of Self-Assessed Competence, and Actual Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Khalid Al Seghayer
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Wide Range

This study was designed to investigate the adequacy of EFL learners' abilities in three major dimensions of digital literacy skills and whether self-assessments of competence were consistent with their actual performance. It also identified factors that affected learners' use of the selected digital literacy skills. To this end, 60 Saudi EFL learners (41 male and 19 female) responded to a five-part, cross-sectional questionnaire of 36 items categorized according to the three dimensions of digital literacy skills. They also engaged in 11 predetermined real-time Internet search tasks. The participants' on-screen online search activities were recorded and subjected to a search log analysis. Short, semi-structured post-search interviews were conducted to capture the participants' reflections on the search process. The data was analyzed with descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. The participants' success in searches was measured by the total number of tasks completed accurately. The results indicated that the participants were ill-equipped to efficiently handle the three key L2 digital literacy skills. Participants' low self-perceived ability to use them adequately was consistent with their actual poor online search performance. Further, the participants scored low in search accuracy, with the exception of search results interpretation skills and, to some extent, skills to evaluate a website's usefulness, and exhibited a wide range of areas for improvement and challenges in Web information search. The implications of the study and potential areas of future research are discussed.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Language Proficiency Level and L2 Digital Literacy Self-efficacy: A Study of EFL University Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Relationship

The evolving digitization of teaching and learning in higher education institutions requires students to be digitally literate (Miller 2015). Despite the echoes of being “digital natives” (Prensky 2001), many EFL students experience difficulties when locating, retrieving, evaluating, and synthesizing digital information at their disposal, especially when the information is in English. To this end, this study is conducted to scrutinize the relationship between EFL students’ second language (L2) digital literacy skills and strategies (DLSs) self-efficacy and their English proficiency level. A total of 93 Saudi students majoring in English at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University were surveyed for their English proficiency level and their abilities to use three major domains of digital literacy skills. The data were analyzed statistically using descriptive measures and ANOVA. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between English proficiency and L2 DLSs. Students with intermediate and upper-intermediate English levels displayed low efficacy in their abilities to navigate, evaluate, and synthesize online information compared to advanced English users. The study concluded that students with higher English proficiency are more responsive to digital literacy skills and can perform well in digitally enhanced environments than basic English users. Pedagogical implications and areas for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Fostering Metacognitive Reading Strategies in Thai EFL Classrooms: A Focus on Proficiency

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Charinwit Seedanont ◽  
Suphawat Pookcharoen
Keyword(s):  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Reading Performance ◽  
Reading Test ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metacognitive Reading Strategies

EFL readers tend to experience a number of challenges while learning, due to a number of factors that affect how these readers achieve their learning goals. Metacognitive strategies, referring to one’s deliberate, goal-directed control over cognitive enterprises, are considered crucial for assisting EFL learners to be able to accomplish comprehension while reading. Previous studies have enriched the knowledge of metacognitive reading strategies in EFL settings. However, only few investigations yielded statistically significant effects on learners’ reading performance. This present study hence foresees an opportunity to shed new light on this issue by focusing on EFL learners’ proficiency. The objectives of this research are twofold: exploring the effects of the metacognitive strategy instruction on the strategy awareness, and perceiving the effects of the instruction on the reading performance in taking a standardized test. Forty-three students enrolling in a private male school in Bangkok, Thailand participated in the study, lasting ten weeks. A wide range of research tools were administered: SORS, IELTS reading test, and lesson plans. The findings suggested that the students’ awareness of reading strategies used in terms of sub-categories and IELTS reading test score improved with statistical significance. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research studies are discussed based on the findings.

A Scoping Review of Technology-Based Vocational Interventions for Autistic Individuals

2021 ◽  
pp. 216514342110416
Author(s):  
So Yoon Kim ◽  
Shannon Crowley ◽  
Youngsun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Video Modeling ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Database Search ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recommendations For Practice

This scoping review synthesized existing literature to address what is known about technology-based employment interventions for autistic individuals and how these interventions were conducted. A systematic multi-database search yielded 48 studies (362 participants; mean age = 20.5 years; 85.3% male) that met the inclusion criteria. Phones/tablets were used most frequently; 33 studies used technological devices for video modeling and/or prompting independently or alongside cueing or feedback. Most interventions were effective in improving job-specific, transferable, and interview skills of autistic individuals. Future studies are needed to examine whether these interventions lead to generalized outcomes and employment opportunities. We also offer recommendations for practice focused on teaching transition-aged students digital literacy skills and transferable skills for a wide range of job options.

Leading Digital Change and the Management of Hybridity in Social Work Organizations

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-73
Author(s):  
Maik Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Leadership Competencies ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Change ◽  
Work Organizations ◽  
Work Management

Constant organizational changes and simultaneous confrontation with different ‘rationalities' of their stakeholders have become a new 'normality' in social work management organizations. This chapter addresses the design, implementation, and sustainable development of an innovative transformation framework of leading digital change consisting of four interrelated phases: (1) identification of the demand for change, (2) development of a digital change strategy, (3) implementation of digital transformation, and (4) monitoring and optimization. This framework can be applied at the level of individual change agents, change programs and initiatives, and to the organization itself. Future research needs to discuss benefits and drawbacks to related challenges in its implementation that require organizational learning, the replacement of old management practices, the development of new digital literacy skills and leadership competencies, and the facilitation of personnel development to mobilize the staff to enact changes in their behavior, values, and attitudes in volatile environments and uncertain times.

scholarly journals Digital Literacy

Communication ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Hicks ◽  
Katherine Baleja ◽  
Mingyuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Adolescent And Young Adult ◽  
Ict Literacy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Print Communication ◽  
K 12

For centuries, both the technologies of literacy—from cuneiform tablets to the printing press to, most recently, the smartphone—as well as the practices of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing have evolved. In the late 1990s, with the emergence of the hyperlinked and increasingly visual form of the Internet known as the World Wide Web, researchers, journalists, and educators began to use the term “digital literacy” to describe and differentiate emerging practices that were considered new, or at least different, from linear, text-centric literacy practices. To be digitally literate, competent learners would need to perform equally as well in face-to-face and print communication, as well as with emerging online tools such as discussions boards, instant messaging, and email. Along with the introduction of the term “digital literacy,” a number of related—and often considered synonymous—terms have emerged from various perspectives including “computer literacy,” “information communication technologies (ICT) literacy,” “information literacy,” “media literacy,” “new literacy(ies),” and “multiliteracies.” In an effort to clarify definitions and to distinguish between other entries in the Oxford Bibliographies, “digital literacy” is defined here as the complementary and interwoven skills, both technical and social, that people must employ when using Internet-based communication—including hypertext, images, audio, and video—to consume and create messages across a variety of academic, civic, and cultural contexts. Digital literacy, then, has particular significance within the realm of education. Often positioned as a set of skills and dispositions on par with—or in some cases, even more important than—traditional literacy skills of reading and writing, digital literacy has taken a prominent role in academic conversations from early childhood education through adolescent and young adult learning. Additionally, references to digital literacy are now common in conversations outside of school as well. This bibliography focuses attention on digital literacy in K-12 contexts, with reference to out-of-school and global contexts, drawing attention to the wide range of educational scholarship that embraces the study of digital literacy including research in linguistics and sociology as well as education.

scholarly journals A Development Framework for a Conversational Agent to Explore Machine Learning Concepts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayse Kok Arslan
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conversational Agent ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Definition Of

This study aims to introduce a discussion platform and curriculum designed to help people understand how machines learn. Research shows how to train an agent through dialogue and understand how information is represented using visualization. This paper starts by providing a comprehensive definition of AI literacy based on existing research and integrates a wide range of different subject documents into a set of key AI literacy skills to develop a user-centered AI. This functionality and structural considerations are organized into a conceptual framework based on the literature. Contributions to this paper can be used to initiate discussion and guide future research on AI learning within the computer science community.

scholarly journals Predictors of online search performance: A uses and gratification perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 367-389
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Source ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Search Information

A study of online search, especially search performance, is vital because people heavily rely on the Internet nowadays. The purposes of this study are thus to examine the gratification needs affecting Internet users’ intention to search information online, to explore the antecedents of online search performance, and to investigate online information-seeking behavior according to each search purpose. A survey of Internet users in Thailand is carried out. Data are collected extensively both from students and workers. Four hundred fifty-three questionnaires are collected online. Individuals use the Internet to search for information differently, for academic/ working achievement, problem-solving, and personal information needs. The main gratifications are information seeking and Internet ambiance. Internet search intention is a strong determinant of a user’s online search performance and corresponding behavior. The theoretical implication is that researchers could apply the research framework to other contexts such as the specific information search. Information source providers could use the findings to modify online resources and their presentations for users effectively. Teachers/ managers could guide their students/ workers to search effectively. This study combines the U&G and the TPB theories. The novel aspects of gratifications i.e., anti-traditional media sentiment and Internet ambiance are also explored.

scholarly journals MANIFESTATIONS OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL AGENCY IN RELATION TO INTEGRATION OF ICT IN TEACHING

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnese Karaseva
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Ict Integration ◽  
The Social ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teacher Professional

Drawing on the social domain theory of Derek Layder, this qualitative meta-study study aims to propose a novel typology of school teacher professional agency in relation to the process of information and communication technology (ICT) integration in teaching in Latvian and Estonian schools. The typology is built by understanding teachers’ choices and practices of technology use as both resourced and constrained by various personal, situational, social and contextual factors. The findings are based on semi-structured interviews with Latvian (N=16) and Estonian (N=10) teachers, class observations, and a study on teachers’ information search performance online. Five distinct types of teacher agency manifestation are identified and discussed on three dimensions: pedagogic use of ICT, mediation of students’ uses of ICT, and teachers’ learning about ICT. Implications for in-service teacher training are discussed.

Talk Around Digital Texts

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
Jonathon Adams
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Multimodal Interaction ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Language Class ◽  
Wide Range

Digital, web-based texts as a resource for the classroom present new ways of making meaning as learners draw on a wide range of communicative resources such as gaze and gesture to access and read them. This study employed a multimodal interaction analysis framework to examine an English language class of Japanese university students explaining online video stories face-to-face in a university in Japan. The findings identified a gap in the digital literacy skills the teacher assumed the learners possessed and the actual digital literacy skills required for successful completion of the classroom activity. The findings challenge the assumption that young learners are ‘digital natives', being capable of using technology for the specific purposes required in the class task. Implications for the planning and implementation of digital media for talk in language classroom tasks are discussed.

Using Declarative Knowledge to Improve Information Search Performance

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Roberts ◽  
Robert H. Ashton
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Procedural Knowledge ◽  
Research Performance ◽  
Declarative Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Tax Research

Knowledge acquisition theory holds that superior judgment/decision-making performance depends on procedural knowledge, which, in turn, results from experience (practice and feedback). This research demonstrates that, under certain conditions, performance can be improved by exposure to declarative knowledge alone, without costly practice and feedback. Practicing tax accountants and graduate tax students participated in a computer-interactive study to improve tax research performance. Using a pretest-posttest design, knowledge and performance were measured prior to, and after, a treatment group (but not a control group) was exposed to a declarative knowledge intervention intended to enhance their knowledge of the content and structure of the Internal Revenue Code. Comparison of the treatment and control groups on posttest knowledge and posttest performance using commercial electronic tax research systems confirmed that the intervention was effective in improving both efficiency and effectiveness in research tasks. Implications for theory and future research are explored.

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