Digital Literacy as a Prerequisite for Achieving

Digital Literacy as a Prerequisite for Achieving
Good Academic Performance
Radovan Vrana
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Department of Information and Communication Sciences,
Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
rvrana@ffzg.hr
Abstract. The paper presents results from the research of students at the
Faculty of Humanities and Social Science in Zagreb, Croatia about their
perceptions and views on digital literacy. The results indicate that students
recognize and relate the concept of digital literacy with a number of ICT
supported activities in which they are involved on a daily basis at the university.
Furthermore, the research showed that there is a connection between use of ICT
and academic performance of the students in research. The students also
exhibited a need for expansion of their current knowledge in a number of ICT
related areas among which are many related to the content creation for the
internet and multimedia. The research results will serve as an important
component in the development of new or expanded university courses that
include the use of ICT in any form.
Keywords: Digital literacy, digital technology, academic community, Croatia.
1 Introduction
Modern networked participatory society presents many challenges for its citizens
demanding from them a good command of digital literacy related skills and the
knowledge necessary for solving problems in their professional and private life. This
society is “characterized by the extreme ease of access to information thanks to
sophisticated discovery tools, and the abundance of digital content increasingly
available online. Oftentimes content is produced by not just a single author but by
many collaborating authors, with often open and free access to all types of
information in the form of publications, institutional repositories, museums, archives,
and art galleries.” [1]. In order to avoid exclusion from the networked participatory
society, citizens have to start with the acquisition of digital literacy related skills and
knowledge very early in their lives and continue their education throughout their life.
This is not an easy task because of the inaccessibility of ICT and the internet which is
necessary for education in digital literacy. According to the International
Telecommunication Union – ITU, only 40% of the global population is online [2] and
digital natives make only 5% of the world population and 30% of young people (15-
24 years old) [3]. These data evidence the existence of the digital divide that makes
S. Kurbanoğlu et al. (Eds.): ECIL 2014, CCIS 492, pp. 160–169, 2014.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
Digital Literacy as a Prerequisite for Achieving Good Academic Performance 161
many digital literacy related educational efforts very difficult. In spite of these
unfavorable numbers, educational institutions around the world continue providing
education in digital literacy especially in primary and secondary education
institutions. Higher education institutions are no exception, as they prepare adult
students for the labor market which demands highly skilled and well educated
professionals, proficient in the use of ICT and able to manage information and
knowledge [1]. Croatia is no exception as its higher education institutions offer digital
technology oriented study programs which include mastering digital literacy related
skills and knowledge. Many students who come to universities are already technology
savvy, they “… chat about burning CDs, downloading MP3s, and writing in HTML”
[4, p. 207]. These skills are further expanded during their education at universities by
the participation of students “in new media environments and digital modes of
learning” [5, p 248]. Having in mind these conditions, this paper focuses upon
students at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb (FHSS), Croatia,
and their perceptions and views of selected aspects of digital literacy as they represent
a prospective workforce that will shape the future society.
2 Digital Literacy
Digital literacy is generally defined as the ability to use ICT to find, evaluate, create,
and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills [6]. This
definition assumes possession of a wide range of technological, cognitive and social
competences including “the ability to operate computers and navigate the net
effectively, to cope with large volumes of information, to evaluate the reliability of
information, and to critically assess what seem to be natural (and not ideologically
biased) technological tools” [7, p 1]. Bawden [8] sees digital literacy as an ability to
read and understand hypertextual and multimedia texts. According to Špiranec [9]
digital literacy is “…the ability to read and understand hypertext or multimedia texts
and includes understanding of images, sounds and text of the dynamic non-sequential
hypertext”. In some countries, the word ICT is added to the concept of digital literacy
resulting in digital ICT literacy: it is “the ability of individuals to use ICT
appropriately to access, manage, integrate and evaluate information, develop new
understandings, and communicate with others in order to participate effectively in
society” [10. p. xiii]. Digital literacy definitions are not always explicitly related to
ICT. One such definition is proposed by Littlejohn, Beetham and McGill who suggest
that digital literacy [11, p. 547] “…means the capabilities required to thrive in and
beyond education, in an age when digital forms of information and communication
predominate”. In addition to the possession of the wide range of technological,
cognitive and social competences, digital literacy also assumes a wide range of
communication forms, “from relatively simple communication via email or instant
messaging to more complex forms of scholarship that involve sourcing using,
evaluating, analysing, aggregating, recombining, creating and releasing knowledge
online”[11, p. 547]. Digital literacy includes a number of skills attributed both to
teachers and students including the ability to:
1. carry out basic computer-based operations and access resources for everyday use,
2. connect together a functional computer system,

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Digital Literacy as a Prerequisite for Achieving

Good Academic Performance

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Keywords: Digital literacy, digital technology, academic community, Croatia.

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