"Our everyday lives are increasingly digital: We meet with friends, search for information, watch films, and buy goods online. This generates data that is automatically collected and analyzed. The ability to deal with the resulting algorithmically selected and personalized content is essential to be
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nefit from digital technologies, and for this, digital skills are crucial. Studies focusing on digital skills, their antecedents, and consequences have mostly relied on self-reported, one-time measurements. A deeper understanding of the measures of digital skills and the role such digital skills play in everyday life and over time is needed. To address these gaps, this article compares self-reported measures of digital skills and knowledge of datafication and algorithmization in everyday internet use and maps the evolution of their relevance for digital everyday life. To do so, this articles analyzes data from multiple cross-sectional surveys conducted from 2011 to 2023 with representative samples of Swiss internet users. First, the findings indicate that self-reported skills reflect internet users' knowledge of algorithmization and datafication in everyday internet use. This renders the measure a decent tool for empirical studies. Second, the findings show that digital skills are associated with socioeconomic background, cyber-optimistic attitudes, usage time, use of social media, health trackers, voice assistants, ChatGPT, and feeling included in the information society. These relationships varied over time. This article provides longitudinal empirical evidence on the relevance of digital skills in a highly digitized country. The findings highlight that promoting digital skills can contributeto fostering more inclusive digital societies." (Abstract)
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"Integrating AI learning objectives into official school curricula is crucial for students globally to engage safely and meaningfully with AI. The UNESCO AI competency framework for students aims to help educators in this integration, outlining 12 competencies across four dimensions: Human-centred m
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indset, Ethics of AI, AI techniques and applications, and AI system design. These competencies span three progression levels: Understand, Apply, and Create. The framework details curricular goals and domain-specific pedagogical methodologies. Grounded in a vision of students as AI co-creators and responsible citizens, the framework emphasizes critical judgement of AI solutions, awareness of citizenship responsibilities in the era of AI, foundational AI knowledge for lifelong learning, and inclusive, sustainable AI design." (Short summary)
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"Political and moral/religious contents are increasingly popular on TikTok, and the concerns associated with them create the premises for a re-exploration of the user–machine agency negotiation. Using algorithmic awareness as a process, this research examines the relationship between users’ awar
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eness of the TikTok algorithm and the main concerns associated with content that conveys political or moral/religious tenets. A survey of 329 Romanian students showed that greater algorithm awareness influences positive attitudes toward algorithms, but significantly stronger positive effects are observed between awareness and the two mediators related to political and moral/religious content perceived as contentious. Using Foucauldian insights on productive resistance, I argue that in-depth knowledge about the functionality of algorithms empower users to identify and subvert different forms of power, algorithmically mediated through political or religious content. When users perceive that they have enhanced agency over what they watch on TikTok, they feel that they can control potential concerns and consequently adopt positive attitudes toward algorithms and the overall platform. Foucault discusses pastoral power as a subtle form of power, designed to empty individuals of their deepest secrets. Similarly, such power is increasingly algorithmically mediated, given that digital machines enhance their agency in often nontransparent ways. Therefore, users’ awareness regarding the functionalities of algorithms allow them to combat the various mutations specific to pastoral power while encouraging them to adopt more positive attitudes toward algorithms in general." (Abstract)
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"The survey findings reveal that 25 per cent of those aged between 15 and 74 have at least basic digital skills, with 7.8 per cent having above basic digital skills and 17.3 per cent having basic digital skills. The study also found that over a quarter (26.5%) of respondents below the basic level of
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digital skills conduct digital activities in four out of five skill areas. This group, already equipped with devices and Internet access, and familiar with a range of online activities, presents an opportunity for targeted training, particularly in the skills area of safety, to elevate them to the basic level of digital skills.
Moreover, 45 per cent of Azerbaijanis aged between 15 and 74 only possess activities in zero to three skill areas out of five. Even if this group of people is active online, without basic digital skills and rudimentary knowledge of digital technologies, they not only lack the skills to benefit from digitalization but they may face online risks as a consequence. For this group, upskilling will reduce and mitigate any negative impact.
The most important skill areas include safety, digital content creation and problem-solving, and major upskilling interventions and training programmes should be built around these three areas, preferably with targeted upskilling activities for different segments of the population. Moreover, getting a better understanding of why 3.4 per cent of people aged from 15 to 74 have not used the Internet in the past three months will be an important step in getting them online.
The survey recommendations will serve as the basis for designing and planning relevant future government interventions, policies or strategies for digital upskilling at national and regional levels. A number of recommendations, both short and long-term, are outlined by age group. Connections with education institutions are made as formal education offers a structured context to implement digital upskilling strategies to guarantee at least basic digital skills as part of learners’ exit profile from education and training." (Exeuctive summary)
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"The Digital Skills Toolkit is a guide for governments to develop national digital skills strategies. The aim is to provide governments with step-by-step guidelines and multiple examples that cover a wide range of contexts to draw upon from around the world. The toolkit is for all countries - those
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with existing digital skills strategies since technological change requires continuous monitoring and review, and those without existing digital skills strategies to assist them with a structured process for development of a comprehensive and implementable national strategy. Most countries today are likely to have digital skills strategies under multiple government ministries and departments, such as ICT, digital transformation, education, labour, health, or rural development. This toolkit is intended to assist countries in developing a comprehensive national strategy that reforms and unites individual strategies for enhanced synergies and efficiencies." (Page 3)
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"The book highlights the underlying stakes that are involved in the fight against disinformation, from producing smart tools to generalizing their use beyond the journalistic profession. It considers the MIL theories and methodologies at work in the digital era, especially from the perspective of di
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gital visual literacy. Offering a comparative study of four European national experiences (France, Romania, Spain, and Sweden), the authors also make public policy recommendations to improve the fight against disinformation." (Publisher description)
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"Digital wellbeing is all about finding the balance between the digital world and the real world – and making sure we use smartphones and other digital devices in a healthy way, while living fulfilling lives beyond the screen. This guide helps tweens and teens do exactly that, inspiring them to se
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t their devices aside (sometimes anyway!) and start living in the here and now. Written by digital wellbeing expert Tanya Goodin, it’s packed with positive prompts, thought-provoking science, and hands-on activities to encourage healthy habits around screen use – including nostalgic crafts, retro tech scavenger hunts, and phone-free nature excursions, plus practical tips on how to deal with digital challenges like comparison culture, cyberbullying, trolling, and much more. This book is not about teenagers giving up their devices forever; it’s about being more mindful of how they use them, so they can live their best lives – on and off the screen." (Publisher description)
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"The goal of this policy brief is to demonstrate how stakeholders can apply the lens of Media and Information Literacy for all to Artificial Intelligence/Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI/GAI) to address its risks and opportunities in the information and digital ecologies. A special focus is on
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the empowerment of youth and highlighting issues of gender and cultural diversity. It also aims to provide recommendations based on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) principles and competences that can lead to concrete policy actions. This policy brief is also useful for civil society organizations and a variety of stakeholders, including media, digital platforms, and governments." (Introduction)
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"This dis- and misinformation fact-checking toolkit was developed by Africa Check for young journalism students and members of NGOs and CSOs with a focus on youth-led organisations. It aims to equip members of the youth with the knowledge and practical tips to stop the spread of false information. T
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his toolkit [...] provides an easily understandable overview of fact-checking with a focus on health information." (About this toolkit)
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"This study explores parental views of early adolescents’ media use and parental mediation among urban middle-class families in mainland China through a sociocultural perspective. By interviewing 18 Chinese parents, this research found that parents’ concerns with media, such as children’s eyes
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ight, Internet addiction, and learning outcomes, align with the public discourse, shaped by the parenting philosophy and sociocultural priorities in contemporary Chinese families. Chinese parents tend to develop mediation strategies related to these concerns and refer to restrictive mediation in the context of Chinese guan parenting, a combination of control/demand and warmth/sacrifice, which provides a more nuanced perspective on restrictive mediation in terms of its actual practices. The research adds to the theory of parental mediation and highlights the need to study culturally specific parental perspectives and mediation to understand children’s media experiences. Further implications are discussed." (Abstract)
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"The increasing role of algorithms shaping our use of communication technology—particularly on social media—comes with a growth of empirical research attempting to assess how literate users are regarding these algorithms. This rapidly emerging field is marked by great diversity in terms of how i
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t theorizes and measures our understanding of algorithms, due, in part, to the opaque “black box” nature of the algorithms themselves. In this review article, we summarize the state of knowledge on algorithmic literacy, including its definitions, development, measurement, and current theorizing on human–algorithm interaction. Drawing on this existing work, we propose an agenda including four different directions that future research could focus on: (1) balancing users’ expectations of algorithmic literacy with developers’ responsibility for algorithmic transparency, (2) methods for engaging users in increasing their literacy, (3) further developing the affective and behavioral facets of literacy, and (4) addressing the new algorithmic divide." (Abstract)
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"Medien – digitale wie traditionelle – spielen eine zentrale Rolle im Leben der Menschen. Sie informieren über das Geschehen weltweit und bieten zudem diverse Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten, beruflich wie privat. Einen großen Teil ihres Alltags bewältigen Menschen digital. So haben sich durch d
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ie fortschreitende Digitalisierung beispielsweise der Schulalltag, die Lehr- sowie Studienjahre und das Berufsleben auf tiefgreifende Weise gewandelt. Um die Flut von Nachrichten und Informationen verarbeiten und nach Relevantem filtern zu können, wird eine fundierte Medienkompetenz benötigt. Durch diese lernen Menschen zu erkennen, welche Informationen wichtig, welche richtig und welche falsch sind und welche Interessen sich hinter ihnen verbergen. Auch für die gesellschaftliche Teilhabe und den Zusammenhalt in der Demokratie ist Medienkompetenz daher ein wichtiger Faktor. Diese Darstellung gibt einen konsistenten Überblick zum Thema Medienkompetenz, beleuchtet dabei die historische Entwicklung und die theoretische Perspektive und blickt auch auf aktuelle Herausforderungen." (www.bpb.de)
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"Las competencias y conocimientos en Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional (AMI) sirven para enfrentar fenómenos como la desinformación, la discriminación, el discurso de odio y el ciberacoso. La AMI se puede transmitir de diversos modos: se puede aprender con materiales lúdicos en la escue
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la como parte del currículo escolar oficial; puede ser parte de la oferta mediática a través de videos, podcasts, plataformas digitales; o, incluso, puede ser el objeto central de un videojuego en línea que motive a jóvenes a aprender AMI. DW Akademie y sus socios en Centroamérica han desarrollado metodologías para enseñanza de la AMI en todos estos campos, con resultados notables en nuevos conocimientos y actitudes de empoderamiento en audiencias jóvenes. Con el objetivo de atender las necesidades específicas de las y los jóvenes en Centroamérica, esta publicación toma en cuenta los factores demográficos que condicionan su vida diaria para formular propuestas AMI. Los datos principales que permiten extraer dichas conclusiones son los recopilados por tres estudios de nuestros socios en Centroamérica: COMUNICARES en Guatemala; la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas y la Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera en El Salvador." (https://akademie.dw.com)
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