International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence 

About: International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence is an academic journal published by IGI Global. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Digital literacy & Information literacy. It has an ISSN identifier of 1947-3494. Over the lifetime, 206 publications have been published receiving 1138 citations. The journal is also known as: IJDLDC.

Impediments to Digital Fabrication in Education: A Study of Teachers' Role in Digital Fabrication

Abstract: Digital fabrication technologies are increasingly integrated across subjects in primary and secondary education. Focus on the potentials of these technologies has mainly been on the support to STEM oriented learning goals, while emphasis on teachers' roles with the new learning processes of technology and design is largely absent. The paper addresses the experiences and challenges that digital fabrication technology present for teachers in educational environments, and the impediments that are linked to the teachers' roles in design processes of digital fabrication. Based on a research study with eight primary and lower secondary teachers, the findings point to four central impediments for integrating digital fabrication and design into school environments. The findings extend current perceptions of digital technology in education towards exploratory processes of investigation in which the teachers' roles are fundamental.

Blended Collaborative Learning Through a Wiki-Based Project: A Case Study on Students’ Perceptions

Abstract: Wikis are currently gaining in popularity in schools and higher education institutions and they are widely promoted as collaborative tools supporting students’ active learning. This paper reports on the investigation of university students’ beliefs and perceptions of a wiki authoring activity, designed to support blended and collaborative learning. The study was administered in the context of an authentic coursework project activity in a first semester university course on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), attended by 47 first year students. Research findings indicated that the students in the sample were generally positive about the collaborative experience offered through the wiki and the consequent learning outcomes. Students’ perceptions of the functionality and usability of the wiki environment were also positive. They considered the wiki as an effective and easy to use technology. In overall, they evaluated positively the wiki assignment, as well as the technical and learning support they received on-line, through the wiki pages, and by their instructors during the class sessions.

Bebras Contest and Digital Competence Assessment: Analysis of Frameworks

Abstract: The article is made of two parts. The first part discusses the importance of informal education environments supported by IT/ICT in students’ learning, followed by reports of some international competitions and the role they have in improving students’ interest and use of Informatics and related disciplines. At the end of the section, it describes the Bebras contest, an international competition supporting students’ Information and Communication Technology competences with emphasis on cross discipline competences, which are useful to solve real life problems. In the second part of the article, the outcomes of a research study on the features of a framework for digital competence assessment are reported. Based on this, some criticisms emerging from the analysis of the answers that students gave to a questionnaire built on the guidelines of the mentioned framework are analysed. They are integrated by the comments that teachers, colleagues and researchers made on the structure of the hypothesized framework. At last, a new model for digital literacy assessment is proposed. In the conclusion, the necessary elements for making the last framework effective are outlined and its suitability for the construction of the yearly questionnaire of the Bebras contest is discussed.

Digital Literacy Education for the Development of Digital Literacy

Abstract: The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effect of digital literacy education (DLE) on the development of digital literacy through a local digital technology community center, particularly for those with a lack of digital literacy. This study focuses on measuring significant differences between before and after digital literacy education through pre-and post-performance tests and surveys. This study also measures the relationships between the DLE and computer and Internet use. The mean comparison of the paired-samples t test results of this study shows an increase in the mean from pretest to posttest, implying the enhancement of digital literacy as a result of the education. The ultimate goal of the digital literacy education in this study is to provide people, who are the digitally illiterate, with learning and digital opportunities to improve their digital literacy through education in an informal setting and to facilitate digital connection and inclusion.

Information Technology and Edutainment: Education and Entertainment in the Age of Interactivity

Abstract: The tight connection which occurs between entertainment and education has originated what is defined edutainment which can be considered as a continuous and innovative brain-training, which stimulates, in an interactive way, the capacity to combine attention and motivation to explore and learn. The role of games in learning is a common topic in research. The various games linked to the edutainment mechanism, in particular, have been analyzed to understand in what way and to which extent they can facilitate study, development of memory, attention, motivation and other cognitive processes as well as spatial abilities. The aim is the definition of "edutainment" as a branch of e-learning which promotes learning process in school, extra-school and didactic field in general, in a playful way, through multimedia applications. The idea of encouraging the integration of game, technology and learning is new and at the same time complex for its educational aims. At international level, United States Department of Education, with the cooperation of educational agents and teachers, recently developed a statistical table of the results reached by an important project for the creation of modules for the learning through Internet. Shown below there are information about the results of this project that were used to be transferred on a national level to start and implement the same project. The interactive technologies, really because they turn the users into actors, they can involve and entertain reducing the gap between the teacher/communicator, standing out as leader of knowledge, and the pupil receiving the information.