Examining Digital Literacy Competences and Learning Habits of Open and Distance Learners

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to examine digital literacy competences and learning habits of learners enrolled in the open and distance education system of Anadolu University in Turkey. Data were gathered from 20.172 open and distance learners through a survey which included four parts: demographic information, abilities to use digital technologies, learning habits, preferences in using digital technologies for learning purposes. Principal Component Factor Analysis was applied in order to group and classify the attitudes and statements of the learners in their personal learning preferences, problem solving skills, project work skills, and abilities to use digital tools for learning purposes. Their personal learning preferences produced five factors: visual, auditory, dependent, collaborative, and readingwriting learning styles. According to the results of the study, learners believe that they have problem solving and project working skills to deal with educational difficulties. However, they seem to have only basic competences of digital literacy and the skills to use information and communication technologies at a basic level. They need training on how to use digital tools more efficiently for learning purposes. Further research is needed to explore how to increase the use of digital tools for the purpose of effective learning and also how to design learning environments to improve digital literacy of open and distance learners.

Digital Literacy Competencies for Teacher Education Students

“…Digital literacy encourages curiosity and allows individuals to evaluate information in a critical way. By increasing the ability to use digital resources, digital literacy helps individuals feel themselves relatively safe in using technology (Özdamar Keskin et al, 2015). However, currently there are still many people who need training so that they can use and manage information networks with the help of technology (Hague & Payton, 2010).…”

“…With the advent of mobility, digital tools have become an integral part of human life and it also enhances three important factors such as speed, virtuality, and networks (Özdamar Keskin, Özata, Banar, & Royle, 2015). These digital products are believed to make a positive contribution to the practice of better teaching and learning (Robertson, Fluck, Webb, & Loechel, 2004;Wang, 2008)).…”

Revista completa

“…La alfabetización digital es una categoría conceptual necesaria en el desarrollo de los procesos educativos mediados por el uso de las TIC ya sea en ambientes mixtos o virtuales y en todos los niveles de escolaridad. Más allá del dominio funcional de estas tecnologías, interesa que estudiantes y maestros se aproximen al uso de estas, como co-partícipes de la cultura digital y productores activos de conocimiento a través de ellas, condición propia del mundo actual (Ozdamar-Keskin et al, 2015). El 35% de los artículos analizados indagan acerca de experiencias de alfabetización, articuladas con los beneficios y ventajas del B-Learning (B-L).…”

Pre-service English Teachers` Views on Digital Literacy Competences in Language Teaching

“…The important thing is how the new literacy can be consumed based on the need. Furthermore, [11] conducted a survey research on digital literacy competences and learning habit of to 20.172 open and distance learners and the result revealed that most of the participants were in basic competences level.…”

“…The survey focused on the digital habits of learners was conducted by previous works such as [14] : [4]: [3]: [6], [7] : [11] . Moreover, [10] did a study in order to explore the development of Australian Aboriginal Pre-service teachers' digital literacy and understanding of digital pedagogies for teaching literacy.…”