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Determinants of Internet Skills, Uses and Outcomes. A Systematic Review of the Second- and Third-Level Digital Divide
Abstract
Recently, several digital divide scholars suggested that a shift is needed from a focus on binary Internet access (first-level digital divide) and Internet skills and use (second-level digital divide) to a third-level digital divide in which the tangible outcomes of Internet use are highlighted. A plethora of studies have been conducted to identify determinants of digital divides. Unfortunately, there is a lack of consistency in the terminology used. Moreover, terms are often not theoretically grounded. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review of digital divide determinants. The results show that the third-level digital divide was underexposed. The primary focus is on Internet use. More importantly, the identified determinants show that digital divide research is largely limited to sociodemographic and socioeconomic determinants.
... Research on digital divides has shown that the availability, adoption, and use of new information and communication technologies are marked by disparities that follow established social class divisions (Scheerder et al. 2017). People from more privileged backgrounds tend to be able to obtain greater benefits from new digital technologies (van Deursen and Helsper 2015). ...
... On the other hand, a recurring finding in research on 'digital divides' is that people from privileged backgrounds tend to benefit more from digital technologies (Scheerder et al. 2017). Digital divides were first identified in the 1990s in access to the Internet. ...
... As access became increasingly widespread in wealthier societies, research in the 2000s and 2010s turned towards inequalities in digital skills and the ways people used digital technologies (Dimaggio et al. 2004). It was found that older and poorer Internet users were less skilled and more likely to use digital technologies for entertainment than younger and wealthier users, who were more likely to exploit online educational and commercial opportunities (Scheerder et al. 2017). More recently, research has begun to focus on a 'third-level' divide: differences between social groups in the extent to which outcomes from Internet and digital technology use are beneficial (Scheerder et al. 2017). ...
The type of work we do as adults is significantly influenced by our parents’ social class. However, digital technologies are transforming the way labour markets work. Candidates are screened using algorithmic decision-making systems. Skills are validated with online tests and feedback ratings. Communications take place online. Could these transformations undermine the advantages that have accrued to workers with privileged backgrounds or reproduce this privilege through digital divides? We examine this question with survey evidence from the online (remote) platform economy, a labour market segment where these digital transformations have progressed furthest (N = 1,001). The results reveal that online platform workers come predominantly from privileged class backgrounds, but we find less evidence of parental class shaping what types of online work they do. We conclude that digital transformations of labour markets may reproduce disparities in access to work but attenuate some class-based differences in the selection of workers by employers.
... Soft policies look to these disciplines for insights into social determinants and mechanisms of individual and community well-being. Social determinants became a key concept in social sciences research on individuals and social organizations in different contexts [36]. Biehl et al. [37] argue that the growth of sociology and social psychology research is a response to the dissatisfaction with the normative theory of decision. ...
... The younger group (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) were mostly motivated by technological novelty and sustainability awareness and mostly had some previous knowledge related to sustainable mobility. The middle group (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44), similarly, were mostly motivated by technological novelty, followed by sustainability awareness and previous knowledge; however, had a mixed result between comprehension, no comprehension, and distraction. The middle-senior group (45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54) was motivated primarily by sustainability awareness and previous knowledge and was mostly able to comprehend the program. ...
... The younger group (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) were mostly motivated by technolog ical novelty and sustainability awareness and mostly had some previous knowledge re lated to sustainable mobility. The middle group (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44), similarly, were mostly motivated by technological novelty, followed by sustainability awareness and previous knowledge however, had a mixed result between comprehension, no comprehension, and distraction The middle-senior group (45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54) was motivated primarily by sustainability awarenes and previous knowledge and was mostly able to comprehend the program. The senio group (55-64) performed very similarly to the younger group (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34). ...
Research on solutions for climate change in the urban transport sector has focused primarily on the technological and spatial planning perspectives; the social dimension of behavioral changes is relatively less explored, particularly in the southern European small city context. In this paper, we examine how social determinants and two other endogenous factors—motivation and knowledge—influence sustainable mobility choices in Portugal, through a case study of a city micro-mobility pilot, using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) as an analytical framework, and mix-method analysis from questionnaires, in-depth individual interviews, and other information collected throughout the pilot program. Motivation, as we found, was the strongest factor that contributed to comprehension, leading to a primarily positive attitude change towards pro-environmental behavior. Our research emphasizes the importance of mechanisms that stimulate citizens’ motivation and facilitate communication in sustainability pilot programs.
... El concepto de brecha digital data de la década de 1990, fue utilizado para explicar el grado de acceso a dispositivos electrónicos y, recientemente, para expresar cuántos tiene o no conexión a Internet (Eastin et al., 2015;Scheerder et al., 2017). La posibilidad de conexión, es lo que consecuentemente contribuye, a un segundo nivel de dicha brecha, en la que se encontrarían discrepancias entre las habilidades y los usos de los internautas con características similares, por ejemplo, la edad (Córica, 2014). ...
... Discrepancias, que pudieran subsanarse, según Blank y Groselj (2014), a través de un mayor nivel educativo o situación laboral con frecuente exposición a la red (Ragnedda y Kreitem, 2018). Por otra parte, cuando este acceso (primer nivel de la brecha) y uso (segundo nivel) no es encaminado a la adquisición de beneficios o resultados tangibles, por ejemplo, a nivel personal como puede ser la oportunidad de obtener un empleo, educación, relaciones sociales u otros a partir del tiempo que un usuario se conecta a la red, nos lleva a identificar un tercer nivel de la brecha digital, la cual se refiere a la aplicación y su impacto en la vida cotidiana del internauta (Scheerder et al., 2017). ...
... El análisis de los niveles antes puntualizados toma mayor relevancia en la medida que la desigualdad social existente se reproduce en el ambiente virtual,por ejemplo, cuando los que tienen una mejor condición económica obtienen más ventajas, beneficios o resultados, no sólo cuando están conectados sino también cuando están desconectados (Aguilar, 2016;Scheerder et al., 2017). Es este marco lo que nos lleva a analizar las prácticas expuestas (usos) identificados en la literatura sobre el acceso, usos y aplicaciones que se dan a las TIC. ...
Las habilidades socioemocionales (HSE) son clave en el desarrollo en la infancia, generando condiciones para una vida plena y el aprendizaje para toda la vida; sobre todo, en tiempos de confinamiento por Covid-19, cuando habilidades como la autonomía y autorregulación son factores claves para el éxito y la permanencia de los estudiantes más vulnerables. Se presenta un estudio cuantitativo, no experimental, transversal y descriptivo, con el objetivo de ofrecer un espacio a niñas y niños de educación primaria de escuelas públicas y privadas del norte de México para expresar sus sentimientos y emociones sobre su proceso educativo y su situación familiar en relación con la pandemia; además de conocer el estado que guardan las HSE, como la autorregulación y autonomía, en su formación académica. Los participantes fueron 248 niñas y niños de educación primaria del municipio de Cajeme, en el estado de Sonora, México, quienes contestaron un cuestionario de 26 preguntas sobre percepciones y sentimientos frente a la cuarentena, y sobre habilidades socioemocionales. Se obtuvo una media de 2.54 puntos en autorregulación (sí) y de 2.42 puntos en autonomía (más o menos). Se considera que existe la necesidad de programas llevados a cabo en contextos escolares formales con intención de formar y dar seguimiento a las HSE, debido al hecho de que las mejores oportunidades para crear efectos duraderos en los determinantes del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida se pueden esperar en la instrucción cotidiana en el aula.
... El concepto de brecha digital data de la década de 1990, fue utilizado para explicar el grado de acceso a dispositivos electrónicos y, recientemente, para expresar cuántos tiene o no conexión a Internet (Eastin et al., 2015;Scheerder et al., 2017). La posibilidad de conexión, es lo que consecuentemente contribuye, a un segundo nivel de dicha brecha, en la que se encontrarían discrepancias entre las habilidades y los usos de los internautas con características similares, por ejemplo, la edad (Córica, 2014). ...
... Discrepancias, que pudieran subsanarse, según Blank y Groselj (2014), a través de un mayor nivel educativo o situación laboral con frecuente exposición a la red (Ragnedda y Kreitem, 2018). Por otra parte, cuando este acceso (primer nivel de la brecha) y uso (segundo nivel) no es encaminado a la adquisición de beneficios o resultados tangibles, por ejemplo, a nivel personal como puede ser la oportunidad de obtener un empleo, educación, relaciones sociales u otros a partir del tiempo que un usuario se conecta a la red, nos lleva a identificar un tercer nivel de la brecha digital, la cual se refiere a la aplicación y su impacto en la vida cotidiana del internauta (Scheerder et al., 2017). ...
... El análisis de los niveles antes puntualizados toma mayor relevancia en la medida que la desigualdad social existente se reproduce en el ambiente virtual,por ejemplo, cuando los que tienen una mejor condición económica obtienen más ventajas, beneficios o resultados, no sólo cuando están conectados sino también cuando están desconectados (Aguilar, 2016;Scheerder et al., 2017). Es este marco lo que nos lleva a analizar las prácticas expuestas (usos) identificados en la literatura sobre el acceso, usos y aplicaciones que se dan a las TIC. ...
Las habilidades socioemocionales (HSE) son clave en el desarrollo en la infancia, generando condiciones para una vida plena y el aprendizaje para toda la vida; sobre todo, en tiempos de confinamiento por Covid-19, cuando habilidades como la autonomía y autorregulación son factores claves para el éxito y la permanencia de los estudiantes más vulnerables. Se presenta un estudio cuantitativo, no experimental, transversal y descriptivo, con el objetivo de ofrecer un espacio a niñas y niños de educación primaria de escuelas públicas y privadas del norte de México para expresar sus sentimientos y emociones sobre su proceso educativo y su situación familiar en relación con la pandemia; además de conocer el estado que guardan las HSE, como la autorregulación y autonomía, en su formación académica. Los participantes fueron 248 niñas y niños de educación primaria del municipio de Cajeme, en el estado de Sonora, México, quienes contestaron un cuestionario de 26 preguntas sobre percepciones y sentimientos frente a la cuarentena, y sobre habilidades socioemocionales. Se obtuvo una media de 2.54 puntos en autorregulación (sí) y de 2.42 puntos en autonomía (más o menos). Se considera que existe la necesidad de programas llevados a cabo en contextos escolares formales con intención de formar y dar seguimiento a las HSE, debido al hecho de que las mejores oportunidades para crear efectos duraderos en los determinantes del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida se pueden esperar en la instrucción cotidiana en el aula.
... El concepto de brecha digital data de la década de 1990, fue utilizado para explicar el grado de acceso a dispositivos electrónicos y, recientemente, para expresar cuántos tiene o no conexión a Internet (Eastin et al., 2015;Scheerder et al., 2017). La posibilidad de conexión, es lo que consecuentemente contribuye, a un segundo nivel de dicha brecha, en la que se encontrarían discrepancias entre las habilidades y los usos de los internautas con características similares, por ejemplo, la edad (Córica, 2014). ...
... Discrepancias, que pudieran subsanarse, según Blank y Groselj (2014), a través de un mayor nivel educativo o situación laboral con frecuente exposición a la red (Ragnedda y Kreitem, 2018). Por otra parte, cuando este acceso (primer nivel de la brecha) y uso (segundo nivel) no es encaminado a la adquisición de beneficios o resultados tangibles, por ejemplo, a nivel personal como puede ser la oportunidad de obtener un empleo, educación, relaciones sociales u otros a partir del tiempo que un usuario se conecta a la red, nos lleva a identificar un tercer nivel de la brecha digital, la cual se refiere a la aplicación y su impacto en la vida cotidiana del internauta (Scheerder et al., 2017). ...
... El análisis de los niveles antes puntualizados toma mayor relevancia en la medida que la desigualdad social existente se reproduce en el ambiente virtual,por ejemplo, cuando los que tienen una mejor condición económica obtienen más ventajas, beneficios o resultados, no sólo cuando están conectados sino también cuando están desconectados (Aguilar, 2016;Scheerder et al., 2017). Es este marco lo que nos lleva a analizar las prácticas expuestas (usos) identificados en la literatura sobre el acceso, usos y aplicaciones que se dan a las TIC. ...
Las habilidades socioemocionales (HSE) son clave en el desarrollo en la infancia, generando condiciones para una vida plena y el aprendizaje para toda la vida; sobre todo, en tiempos de confinamiento por Covid-19, cuando habilidades como la autonomía y autorregulación son factores claves para el éxito y la permanencia de los estudiantes más vulnerables. Se presenta un estudio cuantitativo, no experimental, transversal y descriptivo, con el objetivo de ofrecer un espacio a niñas y niños de educación primaria de escuelas públicas y privadas del norte de México para expresar sus sentimientos y emociones sobre su proceso educativo y su situación familiar en relación con la pandemia; además de conocer el estado que guardan las HSE, como la autorregulación y autonomía, en su formación académica. Los participantes fueron 248 niñas y niños de educación primaria del municipio de Cajeme, en el estado de Sonora, México, quienes contestaron un cuestionario de 26 preguntas sobre percepciones y sentimientos frente a la cuarentena, y sobre habilidades socioemocionales. Se obtuvo una media de 2.54 puntos en autorregulación (sí) y de 2.42 puntos en autonomía (más o menos). Se considera que existe la necesidad de programas llevados a cabo en contextos escolares formales con intención de formar y dar seguimiento a las HSE, debido al hecho de que las mejores oportunidades para crear efectos duraderos en los determinantes del aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida se pueden esperar en la instrucción cotidiana en el aula.
... Ez a megközelítés azonban több szempontból is zsákutcának bizonyult. A technológiai determinizmus uralta szemlélet pusztán gazdasági és technikai kérdéssé redukálta a problémát, figyelmen kívül hagyva annak szociális aspektusát, s hamar nyilvánvalóvá vált, hogy az eszközökhöz való hozzáférés nem feltétlenül jár együtt a használatukhoz szükséges motivációval és készségekkel (van Deursen -van Dijk 2011;Scheerder -van Deursen -van Dijk 2017). ...
... A digitális egyenlőtlenségek harmadik szintjét már ez az új perspektíva határozza meg, mely elsősorban az online tevékenységek (mind negatív, mind pozitív) offline következményeire, illetve ezek kölcsönhatásaira fókuszál (Scheerder -van Deursen -van Dijk 2017;Ragnedda 2017). Ahogy az infokommunikációs technológiák diffúziója a fejlett országokban elért a telítettség szakaszába, és ahogy a populáció jelentős részének mindennapi tevékenységgé és szinte minden életterületen elengedhetetlenné vált a digitális eszközök használata, a kutatókat az kezdte el foglalkoztatni, milyen hatással van az internethasználat mind az egyéni felhasználókra mind a társadalom egészére, és ezek hogyan hatnak vissza egymásra (Scheerder -van Deursen -van Dijk 2017; van Dijk 2020). ...
... 34. (2023) (Galácz -Ságvári 2008;Scheerder, van Deursen -van Dijk, 2017). Mindemellett a digitálisan leghátrányosabb helyzetű csoportok általában nem rendelkeznek kielégítő kiberbiztonsági ismeretekkel sem, és emiatt hatványozottan ki vannak téve a különféle digitális kockázatoknak, nagyobb arányban esnek áldozatul például online csalóknak, bűnelkövetőknek (Robinson et al. 2020a). ...
... However, citizens and social milieus have different opportunities to participate in smart city development, as a large number of studies and research papers show that citizens have very different prerequisites, resources and competencies for possible participation. These different characteristics of social prerequisites and inequalities have already been addressed in a wide range of research studies under the terms "digital divide" or "digital gap" [7,8]. At least, three different strands of discussion can be distinguished relevant to the objectives of the present paper: ...
... In addition, subsequent empirical studies confirm the assumption that socioeconomic inequalities are also reflected in the digital sphere [10]. For example, significant differences in digital media use are evident in terms of users' socioeconomic status [11], with regard to gender [12][13][14], age [15] and the level of education [8]. These differences significantly determine the access individuals have to information and communication technologies, how they use the internet, and to what extent they can use digital skills to their advantage [16,17]. ...
... Neither can solely providing technical access to ICT reduce existing inequalities. Rather, digital and social exclusion continue to reinforce each other in the area of digital skills and use of ICT [16,8,18]. Beyond research on individuals or social milieus, recent methodological approaches go further and focus on respective digital resources and competencies, i.e., what qualities are entailed by social relationships, interactions and transactions [1,[19][20][21]. Current research on the digital divide then also focuses on the exclusion of individual population groups (e.g., marginalised women, indigenous populations, refugees, unemployed and single parents, people with disabilities) or even world regions [22,7]. ...
An integrated consideration of digital inequalities in smart cities is relatively new to most discussions of the subject, and an applicable research framework for the assessment and management of digital inequalities in the smart city is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework for an action-oriented approach to analyse and strategically reduce digital injustices in smart cities. There are five requirements for creating digital justice: the availability of a concept with sufficiently allocated resources, the availability of digital infrastructures and technologies, programmes for learning digital competencies, offerings for citizen participation and a holistic perspective on the global dimensions of digital justice. For different case studies, we assess the coverage, integration and impact of these features. The analysis confirms that the proposed methodological approach can record and evaluate strategies for digital participation in smart cities.
... The digital divide is defined as an inequality in access to and use of ICT technology, in particular the internet (Castells 2002). The internet usage can be classified in form of the frequency and purpose of use (Scheerder et al. 2017) In term of the purpose of internet use, it can be for economic, cultural, social, and private purposes. The economic purposes can include for work, education, property, income, and finance purposes. ...
... The determinants of internet usage have been proposed. These include socio-demographic, social, and economic factors (Scheerder et al. 2017). Socio-demographic factors consist of gender, age, marital status, and place of residence. ...
... Studies on the determinants of internet usage have been carried out (Scheerder et al. 2017, Ali et al. 2020, Sumedia and Sumardjo 2020, Martínez-Domínguez and Fierros-González 2022, 20.Al-Hammadany and Heshmati 2011, Lera-Löpez et al. 2011, Ghebregiorgis and Mihreteab 2018, Duplaga 2017, Alderete 2019, Yesuf 2021, Huxhold et al. 2020, Michels et al. 2020, Nishijika et al. 2017, Rajagukguk 2022. The results of a study in Australia show that access to ICT, that is ownership access to at least one ICT gadget, including personal computer, cellphone, tablet, and the internet, influenced the internet usage for health care among those who had functional difficulty (Ali et al. 2020). ...
Digital divide is relatively high in Indonesia. This study aimed to investigate the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of internet usage in Indonesia. The data used came from the results of the National Socioeconomic Survey in 2021. The unit analysis was population aged 15 years and above who had at least one digital gadget. The dependent variable was the number of internet usage. The independent variables included gender, age, number of household members, marital status, education, working status, place of dwelling, island of residence, and number of digital gadget type owned. Data analysis was used with univariate, bivariate and multivariate methods. Binary Logistic Regression model is used in multivariate analysis. The results of study indicated that higher internet usage was associated with being male, being younger, having smaller number of household members, being unmarried, having higher education, dwelling in urban areas, living in Java island, and owning more digital gadget types. These findings suggest the need to improve access to higher internet usage among women, older people, married individuals, rural dwellers, and Outer Java inhabitants, to promote family planning, to improve education, and to facilitate access to more digital gadgets in order to reduce digital divide and to boost 4.0 global competitiveness in Indonesia.Digital divide is relatively high in Indonesia. This study aimed to investigate the demographic and socioeconomic determinants of internet usage in Indonesia. The data used came from the results of the National Socioeconomic Survey in 2021. The unit analysis was population aged 15 years and above who had at least one digital gadget. The dependent variable was the number of internet usage. The independent variables included gender, age, number of household members, marital status, education, working status, place of dwelling, island of residence, and number of digital gadget type owned. Data analysis was used with univariate, bivariate and multivariate methods. Binary Logistic Regression model is used in multivariate analysis. The results of study indicated that higher internet usage was associated with being male, being younger, having smaller number of household members, being unmarried, having higher education, dwelling in urban areas, living in Java island, and owning more digital gadget types. These findings suggest the need to improve access to higher internet usage among women, older people, married individuals, rural dwellers, and Outer Java inhabitants, to promote family planning, to improve education, and to facilitate access to more digital gadgets in order to reduce digital divide and to boost 4.0 global competitiveness in Indonesia.
... Digital exclusion refers to the lack of adequate skills and knowledge for making effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and is subsumed under the category of insufficient access to new media and the Internet. It is a process that occurs in several groups, though it mainly affects the elderly, the poorly educated, or those living in rural areas (Scheerder et al., 2017;Sastre Reyes, 2019;Longoria et al., 2022). A lack of digital and media literacy (DL&ML) can contribute significantly to lower quality of life. ...
... La exclusión digital se refiere a la falta de habilidades y conocimientos adecuados para realizar un uso efectivo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) y se engloba dentro de la categoría de acceso insuficiente a los nuevos medios de comunicación y a Internet. Este proceso afecta a varios grupos, aunque principalmente a la tercera edad, a aquellos que tienen un bajo nivel educativo o a los que viven en áreas rurales (Scheerder et al., 2017;Sastre Reyes, 2019;Longoria et al., 2022). La falta de alfabetización digital y mediática (ADyM) puede contribuir significativamente a una menor calidad de vida. ...
La exclusión digital es un fenómeno desafiante en muchos países. El bajo nivel de competencias digitales y mediáticas entre las personas mayores plantea muchas preguntas sobre la efectividad de las actividades de inclusión digital existentes. Este artículo llena un vacío relacionado con el desarrollo de competencias digitales desde una perspectiva intergeneracional. El artículo responde a las preguntas de 1) cómo promover la inclusión digital entre las personas mayores, y 2) qué papel en la
promoción efectiva del desarrollo de competencias digitales pueden desempeñar los jóvenes. El estudio utilizó una técnica de entrevista estandarizada que involucró a 22 jóvenes-adultos (20-35 años) que informaron sobre once formas de promover
actividades de inclusión digital entre las personas mayores y ocho técnicas relacionadas con el desarrollo intergeneracional de la competencia digital y mediática.
... Digital exclusion refers to the lack of adequate skills and knowledge for making effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and is subsumed under the category of insufficient access to new media and the Internet. It is a process that occurs in several groups, though it mainly affects the elderly, the poorly educated, or those living in rural areas (Scheerder et al., 2017;Sastre Reyes, 2019;Longoria et al., 2022). A lack of digital and media literacy (DL&ML) can contribute significantly to lower quality of life. ...
... La exclusión digital se refiere a la falta de habilidades y conocimientos adecuados para realizar un uso efectivo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) y se engloba dentro de la categoría de acceso insuficiente a los nuevos medios de comunicación y a Internet. Este proceso afecta a varios grupos, aunque principalmente a la tercera edad, a aquellos que tienen un bajo nivel educativo o a los que viven en áreas rurales (Scheerder et al., 2017;Sastre Reyes, 2019;Longoria et al., 2022). La falta de alfabetización digital y mediática (ADyM) puede contribuir significativamente a una menor calidad de vida. ...
Digital exclusion is a challenging phenomenon in many countries. The low level of digital and media competences among senior citizens raises many questions about the effectiveness of existing digital inclusion activities. This article fills a gap related to the development of digital competences from an intergenerational perspective. The paper answers the questions of 1) how to promote digital inclusion among seniors citizens, and 2) what role in the effective promotion of the development of digital competences could be played by young people. The paper used a standardised interview technique involving 22 young adults in Poland (20-35 years old) who reported on eleven ways to promote digital inclusion activities among seniors, and eight techniques that relate to the intergenerational development of digital and media competence.
... Despite these advantages, there is notable concern about the "digital divide", which in its simplest terms reflects those connected to the internet and those who are not, but more recently is considered to reflect differences in usage and internet skills [23]. For example there is evidence ethnic minorities, compared to white groups, access technology more outside the home and less frequently suggesting digital exclusion through availability [24]. ...
... Although some participants mentioned that using the internet has become more 'normalised' due to the impact of the COVID pandemic, some people with mental health issues still do not have access to the internet (first-level digital divide) and some do not have the skills to use it (second-level digital divide) [23]. According to recent research at the University of York, people with severe mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, were more likely to lack digital skills and were at greater risk of social isolation due to the digitalisation of health and social care services and research [52]. ...
Background
Barriers to mental health research participation are well documented including distrust of services and research; and stigma surrounding mental health. They can contribute to a lack of diversity amongst participants in mental health research, which threatens the generalisability of knowledge. Given the recent widespread use of the internet in medical research, this study aimed to explore the perspectives of key partners on the use of online (e.g. social media) and offline (e.g. in-person) recruitment as an approach to improving diversity in mental health randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods
Face-to-face and online interviews/focus groups with researchers working in mental health and Patient and Public Involvement partners in the United Kingdom. Recordings were transcribed and analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive thematic analysis.
Results
Three focus groups and three interviews were conducted with a total N = 23 participants. Four overarching themes were identified: (1) recruitment reach; (2) Demographic factors that affect selection of recruitment method; (3) safety of technology, and; (4) practical challenges. Five main factors were identified that affect the choice of recruitment method: age, complexity of mental health problem and stigma, cultural and ethnicity differences and digital divide. The use of online methods was considered more accessible to people who may feel stigmatised by their mental health condition and with a benefit of reaching a wider population. However, a common view amongst participants was that online methods require closer data monitoring for quality of responders, are not fully secure and less trustworthy compared to offline methods that enable participants to build relationships with health providers. Funding, staff time and experience, organisational support, and technical issues such as spam or phishing emails were highlighted as practical challenges facing online recruitment. All participants agreed that using a hybrid approach tailored to the population under study is paramount.
Conclusions
This study highlighted the importance of offering a flexible and multifaceted recruitment approach by integrating online with offline methods to support inclusivity and widening participation in mental health research. The findings will be used to develop considerations for researchers designing RCTs to improve recruitment in mental health research.
... A digitális egyenlőtlenségek harmadik szintjét már ez az új perspektíva határozza meg, mely elsősorban az online tevékenységek (mind negatív, mind pozitív) offline következményeire, illetve ezek kölcsönhatásaira fókuszál (Scheerder -van Deursen -van Dijk 2017;Ragnedda 2017). Ahogy az infokommunikációs technológiák diffúziója a fejlett országokban elért a telítettség szakaszába, és ahogy a populáció jelentős részének mindennapi tevékenységgé és szinte minden életterületen elengedhetetlenné vált a digitális eszközök használata, a kutatókat az kezdte el foglalkoztatni, milyen hatással van az internethasználat mind az egyéni felhasználókra mind a társadalom egészére, és ezek hogyan hatnak vissza egymásra (Scheerder -van Deursen -van Dijk 2017; van Dijk 2020). ...
... 34. (2023) (Galácz -Ságvári 2008;Scheerder, van Deursen -van Dijk, 2017). Mindemellett a digitálisan leghátrányosabb helyzetű csoportok általában nem rendelkeznek kielégítő kiberbiztonsági ismeretekkel sem, és emiatt hatványozottan ki vannak téve a különféle digitális kockázatoknak, nagyobb arányban esnek áldozatul például online csalóknak, bűnelkövetőknek (Robinson et al. 2020a). ...
... According to Scheerder et al. (2017), Van Deursen and Helsper (2015) as well as Ferreira et al. (2021), the third stage of the digital divide encompasses internet access, usage, and repercussions. For instance, Van Deursen and Helsper (2015) investigate economic, social, institutional, educational, and political outcomes. ...
... For instance, Van Deursen and Helsper (2015) investigate economic, social, institutional, educational, and political outcomes. Scheerder et al. (2017) investigate all three factors (Internet skills, usage, and outcomes) in terms of socioeconomic, economic, social, cultural, personal, material, and motivational variables. ...
Malaysia's digital gap index is a measure of disparities in internet access and utilization. The west Malaysian region has witnessed growth, but emotional intelligence and internet usage continue to present obstacles. To close the divide between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not, the government must emphasize individual education. The implementation of 5G technology in Malaysia has the potential to reduce the digital divide and promote inclusiveness, thereby contributing to the growth of a sustainable and environmentally conscious economy. In east Malaysia, the implementation of sustainable development practices, community empowerment initiatives, and 5G infrastructure has the potential to reduce disparities and promote economic growth, ecological preservation, and social well-being. By providing equitable opportunities and promoting innovative economic and environmental progress, the government can effectively tap into the innovative potential and vitality of east Malaysians.
... Other correlates demand closer examination. For example, because internet, social media, and technology use varies by personal characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity and race (Anderson et al., 2017;Campos-Castillo, 2015;Kowalski et al., 2020;Marcum et al., 2014) or access-limiting factors such as socioeconomics or rural residence (Scheerder et al., 2017;Vogels, 2021), these individual factors may also be correlated with TFA experiences. As noted above, a body of research on TFA between intimate partners highlights the risks of exposure to TFA by a current or former partner (Kim & Ferraresso); moreover, individuals who are not in a committed relationship may face greater risks through broader dating behaviors and social activities (Sheridan-Johnson et al., 2023). ...
... Finally, our results are consistent with other research (Dunne, 2021;Hassan et al., 2018;Ohana, 2020) highlighting increased risks of TFA primarily for young adults using a broader range of platforms or embodying an active public persona such as that established by influencers. These results point to the need to understand in more detail the nature of technology use and interaction (Scheerder et al., 2017) rather than the commonly used measure of the amount of time spent online (Farrington et al., 2023). ...
Awareness of the growing potential for technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) raises questions about the prevalence of the problem overall and in various forms. The current study fielded a newly developed comprehensive measure of 27 different forms of TFA in a nationally representative sample of US adults ages 18–35. Item response theory analytic techniques were applied to identify items that captured the range of young adult experiences, resulting in a 17-item version of the Cyber-Abuse Research Initiative (CARI) scale. Latent class analyses were applied to identify person-centered profiles of TFA victimization. Seven out of ten respondents reported TFA victimization of some or multiple forms, which LCA results indicated could be characterized as five different TFA profiles. The probability of membership in TFA victimization profiles, compared to those respondents reporting low exposure to no TFA, was greater for women, LGBQA+ young adults, and for individuals who consider themselves to have a public following. In addition to providing the flexible, comprehensive CARI scale for ongoing research, the current results may be applied towards both TFA prevention and disruption efforts.
... Despite continuous developments in ICT in past decades, the digital divide has persisted and has been categorized into different levels [15,16]. The first-level digital divide focuses on the challenges associated with, or even lack of access to, physical digital devices and the Internet among certain social groups; the second-level digital divide refers to the inadequate grasp of digital knowledge and skills, i.e., digital literacy, of social groups that has constrained their access to ICT; additionally, the third-level digital divide refers to the differences in real-life benefits derived from digital access between different social groups [17,18]. Disadvantaged groups have been found to be prevalent among those suffering from the digital divide at different levels [15,16,19]. ...
... Disadvantaged groups have been found to be prevalent among those suffering from the digital divide at different levels [15,16,19]. The relationship between social inequality and the digital divide at various levels has received increasing attention in recent years [18,20]. In particular, the term "gray digital divide" is used to refer to the digital divide that affects older adults [21]. ...
Population aging is a major concern worldwide. Active aging should be promoted by increasing the social participation of older adults and enabling them to remain involved in the community. Research has demonstrated the utility of digital resources for addressing the needs of older adults, which include networking, entertaining, and seeking health-related information. However, the digital divide among older adults (i.e., the “gray digital divide”) is increasingly being recognized as a social problem that may be related to poor well-being. To obtain updated local data on the prevalence of Internet access and usage and their relationship with perceived well-being, we conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of 1018 older adults in Hong Kong from January to July 2021 (This research has received funding support from the Interdisciplinary Research Matching Scheme, Hong Kong Baptist University). We found that only 76.5% of the participants had Internet access at home, a mobile phone data plan, or both, whereas 36.3% had never used Internet services and 18.2% had no digital devices. A younger age, male gender, higher education level, living with others, and higher self-perceived social class were associated with material access to digital devices and everyday use of Internet services. Participants who accessed the Internet every day had higher levels of life satisfaction and self-rated physical and mental health than those who rarely or never used the Internet. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that digital skills were significantly associated with self-rated mental health even when controlling for demographic variables (including age, gender, education level, and self-perceived social class). This study contributes to the limited body of literature on the relationship between Internet use, digital skills, and perceived well-being. Our findings highlight the importance of addressing the digital divide even in cities with high penetration of information and communication technology, such as Hong Kong. We also discuss our insights into the use of timely interventions for older adults to address the gray digital divide.
Keywords: internet access; digital divide; well-being; aging; public health
... The first level refers to access to and rapidity; the second level has to do with skills and use, and the third level is the outcomes of the usage. 8,9 Older adults who are now online usually fall into at least one of the three divides. ...
Older adults need to participate in the digital society, as societal and personal changes and what they do with the remaining time that they have in their older years has an undeniable effect on motivation, cognition and emotion. Changes in personality traits were investigated in older adults over the period 2019–2021. Technology enthusiasm and technology anxiety are attitudes that affect the relationship to the technology used. The changes in the score of technology enthusiasm and technology anxiety were the dependent variables. They were investigated with personality traits, age, gender, education, whether someone lives alone, cognitive function, digital social participation (DSP) and health literacy as predictors of the outcome. The Edwards-Nunnally index and logistic regression were used. The results indicated that DSP, lower age, lower neuroticism and higher education were indicative of less technology anxiety. High DSP and high extraversion are indicative of technology enthusiasm. DSP and attitude towards technology seem to be key in getting older adults to stay active online.
... The idea of an unequal distribution of literacy in society is best represented by the notion of the "digital divide" (van Dijk, 2020). While the original concept of (first-level) digital divide focused on unequal access to technology (van Deursen & van Dijk, 2019); more recently, research has investigated a second-level digital divide referring to an unequal distribution of technological knowledge and skills among users, and a third-level digital divide as the differences in the outcomes of people's technology use (e.g., unequal distribution of knowledge or unequal participation; Gran et al., 2021;Hargittai, 2002Hargittai, , 2021Scheerder et al., 2017). Applying this logic to the context of algorithmic literacy, it is plausible to assume that there is a division between those who use and interact with algorithms on social media and those who do not. ...
With the increase in algorithms on social media, scholarship is increasingly focused on “algorithmic literacy,” or users’ understanding of algorithms. Algorithmic literacy is multi-faceted (knowledge, attitudes, and behavior), and researchers are still uncovering how these facets are connected. This article presents a preregistered survey of social media users from two western countries: the United States (n = 990) and Germany (n = 1117). Results show key predictors of algorithmic awareness—age, education, frequency of social media use—are the same in both countries. Nevertheless, U.S. social media users show higher algorithmic awareness and more positive attitudes toward algorithms than German social media users, likely due to their higher overall social media usage. Results also indicate that algorithmic awareness predicts attitudes about filtering algorithms depending on users’ defense motivations or accuracy motivations and behaviors to counteract filtering. These patterns have implications for literacy interventions and for increasing algorithmic transparency.
... In the international arena, the study of the digital divide had been oriented to the technological-individual perspective, which goes hand in hand with the theoretical approach of human capital (with a hint of social capital). This perspective highlights studies of the determinants of the digital divide: age, sex, schooling, economic status and native language (Grazzi and Vergara, 2012;Nishijima, Macedo and Mori, 2017;Scheerder, Van Deursen and Van Dijk, 2017;Martínez, 2018;Tourdert, 2019;Martínez and Mora, 2020). ...
This article presents the results of a research aimed at diagnosing the digital divide among users of cybercafes in Morelos (Mexico) in terms of access to Internet services (determinants) as well as the identification and management of information. For this purpose, a survey was designed and applied to 116 informants in 14 municipalities of Morelos. Results indicate that cybercafes function as access points to information, technological devices, and Internet navigation, thus reducing the digital divide, particularly in rural areas. It was also found that cybercafes allow users to access several services, users attend to obtain printing services, carry out governmental procedures and information searches, which would not be possible without the existence of cybercafes.
... The observed decrease in the DDED Index is consistent with [88], in which the authors pointed to the growth of digital inequality, asymmetry and competition between the regions of Russia, which requires special forms of consolidated and effective government regulation and appropriate resources. The "Use" sub-index received the highest weight among the components of digital infrastructure, which is consistent with work on the digital divide, indicating that there is a shift in emphasis from access to ICT to their use [89]. ...
The potential for the development of digital data and their infrastructure creates new opportunities for economic growth. The purpose of this study was to develop an approach to identify a set of indicators to quantify the data economy and model its impact on economic growth. The cumulative index and Gini coefficient indicated differentiation and disparity in the digital data infrastructure of 85 regions for 2016–2021. In the presence of a positive spatial correlation, digital development does not indicate clear spatial clubs. Selected according to the calculation of Lagrange multipliers and likelihood ratios, panel econometric models with spatial lags, using SAR, SEM and SAC, showed a short-term negative effect and a long-term positive effect of the digital data economy on economic growth, confirmed by the calculation of marginal effects. During the pandemic, the data economy had a positive impact on regional economic growth. The positive spatial effect of interactions between regions detected by the models in the framework of economic growth indicates the synergistic nature of digitalization. The main conclusions of this study provide evidence-based support for the digital transformation of regions and can help create information infrastructure and accumulate human capital to eliminate disparities in the digital development of regions.
... In the last two decades, the Internet has become one of the main sources for consuming information regarding health and medical issues (Wang et al., 2021). However, research has shown that individuals vary in motivation to seek health information online, as well as their ability to comprehend information obtained (Scheerder et al., 2017). The trend toward online information seeking has also raised important questions about health inequalities and digital divides related to Internet access (Mesch et al., 2013;Robinson et al., 2015;Wyatt et al., 2005). ...
eHEALS is one of the most prevalent scales used to measure eHealth literacy. However, significant criticism toward its conceptualization had raised. This study tests the effects of eHEALS alongside constructs from the elaboration likelihood model and information seeking processes, within a multidimensional model to predict medical decision-making quality. We test this model using a sample of 56 participants who completed a 45-minute online simulation task, requiring them to offer recommendation for a hypothetical medical scenario. Findings revealed that neither eHealth literacy nor elaboration likelihood independently predicted decision quality. However, eHEALS was positively associated with higher decision quality, but only among participants who had greater motivation and ability to process health information, and who used more complex information seeking strategies. Findings suggest that the eHEALS measure can be examined using a multidimensional theoretical approach to illustrate the ways in which patients obtain and utilize health information to make informed decisions.
... In addition to involving various risks related to integration and cost, they always pose privacy and security threats. Especially when technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing are used in this context, systems become susceptible to hacking and viruses (Scheerder et al., 2017(Scheerder et al., , p. 1617 Therefore, private, confidential or many valuable data will be in danger of being stolen. This is one of the leading factors limiting market growth in the digital twin. ...
A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical entity that reproduces the data model, behavior, and communication with other physical entities. Digital twins act as a digital copy for the physical object or process they represent, providing near real-time monitoring and evaluation without being in close proximity. While most of its tangible applications are found mainly in industrial contexts, healthcare represents another relevant area where digital twins can have a major impact. The aim of this article is to give theoretical information about the definition, principles, roles, stakeholders and history of the digital twin concept. From this point of view, the articles in the field were examined and a review paper was created. It is also to create a comprehensive framework about digital twin applications in healthcare. After providing an overview of the application of digital twins in health services, the vision of this concept, which has recently found a place in research in Turkey, is discussed.
... Tenison and Sparks Large-scale Assessments in Education (2023) 11:28 assessments of related skills have been developed and administered across multiple age levels and populations (e.g., Mullis & Martin, 2019;PIAAC Expert Group, 2009;OECD, 2019aOECD, , 2019bOECD, , 2021. To reflect changing notions of digital information literacy (DIL), researchers and assessment developers have developed complex, interactive simulationbased assessments which capture authentic learner performances in rich environments, introducing measurement challenges (Scheerder et al., 2017). These digitally-based assessments afford opportunities to collect multiple streams of evidence of students' DIL skills, from item responses to moment-to-moment actions (i.e., process data captured in log files). ...
Background
Digital Information Literacy (DIL) refers to the ability to obtain, understand, evaluate, and use information in digital contexts. To accurately capture various dimensions of DIL, assessment designers have increasingly looked toward complex, interactive simulation-based environments that afford more authentic learner performances. These rich assessment environments can capture process data produced by students’ goal driven interactions with digital sources but linking this data to inferences about the target constructs introduces significant measurement challenges which cognitive theory can help us address.
Methods
In this paper, we analyzed data generated from a simulated web search tool embedded within a theoretically-grounded virtual world assessment of multiple-source inquiry skills. We describe a multi-step clustering approach to identify patterns in student’s search processes by bringing together theory-informed process data indicators and sequence clustering methods.
Results
We identified four distinct search behaviors captured in students’ process data. We found that these search behaviors differed both in their contribution to the web search tool subscores as well as correlations with task level multiple-source inquiry subconstructs such as locating, evaluating, and synthesizing information. We argue that the search behaviors reflect differences in how students generate and update their task goals.
Conclusion
The data-driven approach we describe affords a qualitative understanding of student strategy use in a complex, dynamic simulation- and scenario-based environment. We discuss some of the strengths and challenges of using a theoretical understanding of multiple-source inquiry to inform how we processed, analyzed, and interpreted the data produced from this assessment tool and the implications of this approach for future research and development.
... The digital divide is often defined as the gap between those who have and do not have access to computers and the Internet (Van Dijk, 2006). As the Internet gradually becomes ubiquitous, a second-level digital divide, which refers to the gap in Internet skills and usage between different groups and cultures, is brought up as a concern (Scheerder et al., 2017). As an emerging technology, generative AI may widen the existing digital divide in society. ...
... Among practitioners and scholars, the chances concerning exchange through ICTs and participation for a large number of people triggered hope for a renewed quality of (party) democracy (mobilization thesis). Influenced by the research on the digital divide (e.g., Van Deursen and Van Dijk, 2011;Scheerder et al., 2017) and experiences of the web's potential to harm individuals and society, recent research also considers possible negative effects and even perils of technological advancements for democracy (e.g., Persily, 2017;Margetts, 2018;Starks, 2019). Acknowledging both, opportunities and perils, this paper examines how political parties attempt to cope with the technological advancements by taking a rare perspective: party spending. ...
As external forces seek to gain influence over ICTs of political parties, their security becomes an additional relevant factor in parties' finances. While many studies focus on parties' online fundraising, their spending for web-based technologies remains terra incognita. Our perspective follows the idea that a party's spending is an indicator for relevance. What aspects are on the table when new ICTs are purchased by parties? What significance do security concerns have? We analyzed the Green Parties in Germany and Austria. Both are forerunners in their use of online participation platforms with decades of experience in engaging members offline. We conducted interviews with stakeholders from both parties and an external IT-specialist. Our findings indicate differences in the approach of securing ICTs even among these most similar cases: some see security as a long-term issue and invest in in-house solutions, others see security as a necessary expense and opt for external service providers.
... Studies show that mainly those who are engaged offline tend to get involved online, that is well-educated, more prosperous population groups (digital divide) (van Deursen & van Dijk, 2011;van Dijk & Hacker, 2003;Fuentes-Bautista & Olson, 2018;Norris, 2001;Warschauer, 2004)even though online opportunities for participation bear potential to mobilize especially younger people (Beyer, 2014). In addition to one's interest in politics and getting involved in respective processes, skills required for understanding and using the participatory tools influence individuals' capacity and likelihood to join a participation procedure and contribute to the discourse (digital literacy) (Chipeva et al, 2018;Scheerder et al., 2017;Tirado-Morueta et al., 2018). This reveals an enormous gap between the technical usage potential and actual practice. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in online communication, offering a unique burning glass perspective on the advantages of transferring formerly face-to-face conversations online as well as uncovering limitations of using technical applications to this end. These experiences are of great importance for the development of new e-participation instruments. So far, digital participation has failed to match the quality of real-world procedures. This paper discusses various emerging formats for online participation and their prerequisites. Blended participation models, in particular, appear to offer the most promise, enhancing negotiation processes between heterogenous social groups and facilitating responsive policy making. Zusammenfassung Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Nutzung der Online-Kommunikation stark befördert. Diese einzigartige experimentelle Situation machte die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines Wechsels der Kommunikati-onsmedien von Face-to-Face-in Online-Formate sichtbar. Die gesammelten Erfahrungen sind von erheblicher Bedeutung für die Entwicklung neuer Instrumente und Tools der Online-Beteiligung. Bis-lang allerdings sind Online-Beteiligungsformate den klassischen Offline-Beteiligungsformaten quali-tativ nicht ebenbürtig. Daher werden in diesem Beitrag Ansatzpunkte für neue Formate und deren Grundvoraussetzungen diskutiert. Insbesondere Konzepte, welche sowohl Online-als auch Offline-Elemente verbinden (Blended Participation), erscheinen vielversprechend, da sie Austauschprozesse zwischen heterogenen sozialen Gruppen verbessern und die Responsivität des politischen Entschei-dungsfindungsprozesses erhöhen können.
... Ref. 31 uses US state-level data and provide validation for additional determinants, in terms of relevant individual characteristics, of the digital divide which include social capital, openness, and ethnicity 32 , using individuallevel data for technology adoption in the EU, single out the importance of educational levels as an important driver of digital divide. Ref. 33 provides an overview, by means of a thorough literature review, of the determinants of the digital divide and confirm the importance of age, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geography. ...
The debate on urban smartness as an instrument for managing more efficient cities has been revolving around the notion that Smart Cities might be causing an increase in inequalities. This effect would be caused by the role played in smart urban transformations by Multi-National Corporations, which would be influencing local policymakers’ agendas. In this work we empirically verify whether smart urban characteristics are associated with an increase in urban inequalities along the digital divide dimension among urban dwellers. To this aim, we exploit a large database of 181 European cities, with data on smart urban characteristics, along with measures of the digital divide obtained with the use of survey data carried out at the European Union level. Results show a negative causal relation between the level of urban smartness and the digital divide within-EU cities. Our findings are robust to a number of robustness checks.
... The concept of 'digital divide' is nuanced and not confined to the binary view of 'have' and 'have not', which may hinder digital inclusion (DiMaggio and Hargittai, 2001;Bezuidenhout et al., 2017). The concept of 'digital divide' has been expanded into three levels: the initial gap between those with and without Internet access; the difference in Internet skill acquisition (Hargittai, 2001); and the tangible inequality of outcomes, such as learning and productivity through Internet technologies (Scheerder et al., 2017;Wei et al., 2011). Technologies involved in increasing participation in everyday life can also be considered a new form of digital divide, such as algorithmic awareness (Lythreatis et al., 2021;Gran et al., 2021). ...
The access and use of the Internet in public spaces is becoming more extensive, and increasingly regarded as a transitional stage to achieving the ultimate goal of private internet access for all citizens (Viseu et al., 2006). Internet in public spaces does not only narrow the digital divide and promote digital inclusion, but is also a basic requirement for the realization of the information society. However, there may still be inequal access to information and communication technologies (ICT), especially for people with disabilities (PWDs), that has been widely overlooked. This ‘digital disability divide’ (Dobransky and Hargittai, 2006; Sachdeva et al., 2015) is widely acknowledged as affecting the equal participation of PWDs in society, hindering the construction of an inclusive society. The current academic literature related to digital inequality has focused on internet access and use of a diverse population segment, but there is deficient research on the ‘digital disability divide’, especially focusing on public ICT facilities. In order to bridge this gap and promote social inclusion, this paper takes the social model of disabilities as an objective group, exploring the public disabilities inequality theories and exclusive phenomenon through a deep literature review and onsite observation. This paper summarizes the four forms of public interactive behaviours of PWDs based on the four elements of ICT engaging with the public space from Abdel-Aziz et al. (2016). Also, a framework of public digital disability barriers that correspond with the ICT elements in public spaces has been proposed. By applying inclusive design thinking and principles, this paper identifies the deficiencies in design of existing ICT facilities. This paper also identifies and discusses key directions for improving digital disabilities inclusion in public spaces from a design policy and practical perspective. Suggestions for further study directions are also offered.
... Extant literature has shown that factors such as infomediaries as transmitters of digital skills to other household members, where households with a larger number of internet users generate positive externalities by encouraging new internet users [47] can enhance internet usage. Moreover, digital competencies enable information seeking, interaction with others, and access to government, commercial and health services among others [48]. As shown by Martínez-Domínguez et al. [47] and Alderete [49], the availability of electronic devices, such as computers, tablets, cell phones, and Smart TVs, fosters internet use. ...
Available evidence suggests that managing the complexities of health information and the behaviours associated with information search call for adequate digital health literacy (DHL). Students’ ability to judge the relevance of health-related information largely affects their level of satisfaction with the information. The study assessed DHL, information searching behaviours, and the link between DHL and COVID-19 information. The cross-sectional study utilised the multi-stage sampling technique in the selection of 1392 secondary school students in the Northern Region of Ghana. A DHL questionnaire was used to survey the students. The students displayed inadequate level of DHL concerning the relevance of online information. Predictably, most of them had not searched for information in the past four weeks prior to the data collection. Search engine portals, websites of public bodies, and news portals were the predominant platforms used for information search. Majority of the participants reported not being satisfied with the information they found on the internet about coronavirus. A significant association between DHL levels and utilization of COVID-19 information platforms was identified, such that students who showed high levels of DHL used platforms which had reviewed/professional content compared to those with low levels of DHL. Advanced DHL may serve as a disincentive to the consumption of information from sources which are not credible. There is an urgent call for collaboration among the ministries/agencies responsible for education and health, telecommunication networks, and civil society organisations for interventions aimed at integrating DHL in schools..
... Further differences can be found regarding Internet-related technology use, skills and literacy, giving rise to a second-level digital divide (Friemel & Signer, 2010;Ochara & Mawela, 2015). Some authors, such as Scheerder et al. (2017), point to a third-level digital divide related to insufficient skills hindering the efficiency to perform certain online tasks. ...
E-government is a tool at the service of the public administration and should be used to progress towards goals of governance and sustainability, showing great potential for rural communities at risk of depopulation. The aim of the study is to ascertain the level of e-government implementation in rural municipalities of depopulated Spain and to reflect on its possible influence on citizens’ intention to emigrate. For this purpose, the Province of Albacete will be taken as the object of study, this province being a paradigmatic example of the deployment of digital services. The paper measures the development of e-government supply by constructing municipal indexes through the content analysis of websites. In parallel, applying regression analysis, the work provides an assessment of the demand and actual use of e-government by rural inhabitants, using the data obtained from a survey conducted by the authors in that province. The results reveal, on the one hand, that the situation of small municipalities is deficient in relative terms in the areas of e-information and e-participation, confirming a digital divide by municipal size. In the demand side, the findings alert on the need to promote greater use of e-government and to improve the digital inclusion of all segments of the population.
... Yet despite of its ever-increasing impact, there exists a digital skills gap that students' experience, which is developed by one's socioeconomic status. This is also known as the "second digital divide", which affects thousands of students worldwide, and can be defined as the division of people who can effectively employ ICT and those who cannot, and when viewed in isolation may be identified as digitally literate and illiterate (Scheerder, Van Deursen, and Van Dijk 2017). ...
Purpose: Owing to the digital skills shortage in South Africa, this article ascertains the digital skills requirements of the Real Estate, Finance and Business Services sector in South Africa. The aim of this study is to understand which digital skills graduates are expected to possess when they enter this sector, as well as its level of importance of each digital skill. The Real Estate, Finance and Business Services sector has been South Africa's largest GDP contributor for the past several years, therefore this particular sector was selected for this study. Methodology: A quantitative research approach was undertaken to survey 387 business professionals from the Real-Estate, Finance and Business Services sector in South Africa. The survey was conducted online via LinkedIn and participants acted in their individual capacity as business professionals, resulting in a response rate of 49 per cent. Findings: Digital skills related to the use of software applications and Web tools, the use of information systems, and the application of security measures in digital environments were analysed using Principal Component Analysis. The findings revealed that this industry sector placed a great deal of importance on a graduate's ability to apply security measures in digital environments, particularly pertaining to Personal IT Security Skills. Originality: This study will greatly assist South African higher education institutions with regard to curriculum development in the commerce disciplines, since most commerce students feed into the said sector. A curriculum that is better aligned to meet industry needs, will ensure that graduates are adequately prepared for this particular South African industry sector. A study of this nature is lacking in the South African context, which will greatly help South African higher education institutions to align their curricula to meet this sector's digital skills need.
... Individuals' revenue, schooling, literateness and gender are considerably (indirectly or directly) related to physical access, ICT abilities and usage variety [31,32]. Thirdly, not only are the reasons for ICT use considered, but the consequences related to ICT use are also considered [10,33,34]. ...
Limited studies provide an analytical lens of students’ experiences of access to digital technology in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as portrayed by newspapers, particularly during times of a global pandemic, particularly COVID-19. This chapter addressed the question: What sustainable pathways for short learning programme (SLP) provisioning can be suggested to address access inequalities amid a national health crisis as reflected in South African newspapers? To avert the potentially devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst still retorting to students’ needs, HEIs must consider a kaleidoscope of approaches and implement strategies to effectively deliver online teaching and learning using digital technology. Having applied discourse analysis to articles that appeared in an array of South African newspapers, the findings revealed that access to digital technology and competence in digital literacy might afford HEIs an opportunity to address challenges experienced by SLP students. The findings reveal further that a consideration of such pathways may increase students’ access, confidence and performance in online learning activities.
The ephemeral nature of life is such that what was present in our lives yesterday may undergo a transformation or cease to exist altogether, as if it had never been. Technology has emerged as a significant factor in mitigating the challenges posed by various crises, particularly during recent global pandemics, natural calamities, and mass migrations. Undoubtedly, the incorporation of technology in the realm of education is a significant phenomenon. Currently, attention is directed towards academic institutions that offer programs for teacher education. Numerous responsibilities are assigned to the faculty members who provide instruction to individuals pursuing a career in teaching. The education of pre-service teachers regarding technology necessitates a distinct emphasis and instruction. The primary subject matter of this chapter pertains to the instruction of technology integration for pre-service English teachers, with a particular emphasis on the digital divide.
The article explores the Pervasive Information Architecture (PIA) framework as a theory and set of tools that support the identification of both the multiple physical/digital, spatially oriented elements that make up urban life and, importantly, the obstacles and barriers to information flow between them. As an example, the article presents the application of the framework in studying how first-generation immigrants experience the urban natural environment in Turku, Finland. This research contributes to advancing our understanding of how Pervasive Information Architecture can be effectively used to analyse, design, and optimize urban landscapes, thereby promoting a more inclusive urban development.
In Nigeria, the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), a large-scale university admission examination, was fully computerised in 2015. However, knowledge gap and digital divide are prevalent in developing countries, which may impact students’ performance in computer-based tests (CBT). To this end, this study investigates ICT-related individual differences (computer familiarity/experience, CBT anxiety and CBT attitude) among secondary school students taking UTME and its effects on their performance on the test in Osun state, Nigeria, considering their locations (rural/urban) and school types (public/private). The study adopted a quantitative survey for data collection from final-year secondary school students who registered and took 2021 UTME. The study's findings revealed significant variations in the access and use of computers among students taking UTME. It was found that all students from private schools had prior computer experience, whereas 11% of students from public schools had not used a computer before. Within the group of students without prior computer experience, 63% were from rural public schools. Furthermore, computer familiarity positively correlates with students’ performance in UTME. For instance, students who have taken CBT at least six times before UTME have significantly better performance than those who have not taken CBT at all. However, CBT attitude and anxiety before and after the examination were moderate and had no significant relationship with test performance. We conclude that affordable and easily accessible ICT facilities and CBT practice centres should be provided to students, especially those in disadvantaged areas, to ensure the fairness of UTME to all candidates.
China's use of digital technology for poverty alleviation has yielded substantial results. In establishing and improving long-term mechanisms for poverty eradication governance, changing capabilities is the key and ultimate goal in alleviating the problem of poverty. In the context of the widespread adoption of digital technology and rapid development of the digital economy, the lack of digital literacy is a significant obstacle that hinders rural residents from reaping the benefits of the digital economy. However, few studies explore the specific impact of improving digital literacy on poverty alleviation governance. Based on data from the China Family Panel Studies from 2018, this paper explores the impact of digital literacy on the risk of impoverished households returning to poverty, and examines the underlying mechanism. The study finds that digital literacy can reduce the risk of impoverished households returning to poverty in China by promoting family entrepreneurship, improving entrepreneurial performance, and expanding entrepreneurial scale. Further analysis shows that this effect varies among households with different regional and capital endowments, and that digital business literacy has the most significant effect in terms of alleviating the risk of returning to poverty. This study has significant implications for understanding and improving the governance mechanism of sustainable poverty alleviation through digital literacy.
JEL codes: D13, I25, I32, O15, O33
This paper examines the influence of socialisation agents in shaping digital competence in older adults (aged 65+ years). Data was collected from the University of the Third Age (U3A) Network Victoria, a volunteer organisation that provides courses and programs for the retired and semi-retired community. We used a two-stage approach; focus groups as a sensitising tool, followed by 21 in-depth interviews. The research identifies three distinct consumer socialisation processes: reciprocity, self-socialisation and outsourcing, and details the central socialisation agents influencing these processes and how these processes influence learners to reach different socialisation outcomes. Overall, this study sheds light on the complex socialisation processes that influence how older adults become digitally competent and the barriers they face in this process, illuminating the need to address negative attitudes, improve access to devices and support older adults in maintaining their independence.
Background:
Healthy China strategy is an important development objective of the 14th Five-Year Plan and Vision 2035 in China, while health service use in rural China has been a weak link in this strategy.
Objective:
Nowadays, people's health service use will be influenced by digital technology due to the arrival of the Digital Age, and that is the reason why our interest is to discuss the effect of digital life on health service use among rural residents.
Methods:
We use the data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) 2020 to examine the effect of digital life on health service use among rural residents, and we use Instrumental Variables method to control the endogenous problem and use KHB model to discuss the mechanism of this effect.
Results:
It was found that digital life has increased the health service use among rural residents significantly, and this result has been verified by robust test and Instrumental Variables method. Besides, digital life can increase health service use through the information channel effect and the health literacy effect indirectly. Moreover, digital life has a more significant impact on the residents with low social capital, low physical capital and low social trust, which represents the inclusivity of digital life.
Conclusion:
The results of our paper will be helpful to examine the effect of the digital policy on promoting the health service use in rural China, and our findings will provide evidence of how to use digital life to enhance health service use among rural residents. Based on this, the government should take measures to eliminate the digital divide between urban and rural areas by promoting the level of digital life among rural residents, paying more attention to the digital literacy development among them, and forging ahead toward the great goal of the Healthy China under the Digital Age.
Zusammenfassung
Zwischen November 2020 und April 2021 wurde im Rahmen der bundesweit repräsentativen Studie „Hohes Alter in Deutschland“ eine schriftliche Befragung von mehr als 10.000 Personen ab 80 Jahren zu deren Lebenssituation und Lebensqualität durchgeführt. Hiervon beantworteten 3233 Personen bis Dezember 2021 in einem zusätzlichen telefonischen Interview detaillierte Fragen zu ihrer Internet- und Techniknutzung. Auf dieser Grundlage stellt der vorliegende Kurzbericht dar, wie hochaltrige Menschen in Deutschland moderner Technik wie dem Internet und digitalen Geräten gegenüber eingestellt sind und ob, wie häufig und wofür sie diese nutzen.
The COVID‐19 pandemic led to the closure of higher educational institutions (HEIs) and affected the teaching learning processes in educational institutions of all levels. The pandemic increased the digital gap of the existing minimal Internet connectivity and access to digital technology. As a result of the impact of the pandemic on education, HEIs in Ghana moved from traditional face‐to‐face classes to remote education or hybrid learning. Therefore, it is important to understand how digital technologies and digital divide influenced teaching and learning in sub‐Saharan Africa. Thus, the purpose of this research was to investigate the strategies universities in Ghana used to overcome the digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The study also aimed to explore the challenges and experiences of dealing with the digital divide during the pandemic. Data were collected following a qualitative research design. Thirty‐five in‐depth and semi‐structured interviews (25 teaching faculty and 10 administrators) from two private and three public universities were obtained and analysed via thematic analysis approach. Findings were thematized by challenges of dealing with digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic, provision of affordable Internet connectivity for students, faculty and staff, use of digital technologies and resources for hybrid and remote courses, creation of information communication and technology platforms for students, faculty and administrators, and provision of professional development workshops/trainings on digital skills and knowledge. These results were discussed with the three‐level model of the digital divide framework (school, classroom and student) and the development history of digital infrastructure in sub‐Saharan Africa. By analysing the Ghana HEIs' experiences, this study contributes to a balanced understanding of the digital divide issue during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Practitioner notes
What is already known about this topic The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to the closure of higher educational institutions (HEIs) worldwide, including those in sub‐Saharan Africa, and changed learning and teaching process to remote learning in higher education.
There is dearth of studies regarding how digital technologies and digital divide influenced teaching and learning progress during the COVID‐19 pandemic in sub‐Saharan Africa. Lack of understanding about the strategies universities in Africa (Ghana) used to overcome the digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
What this paper adds This study, unlike earlier ones with a similar focus, investigated the strategies higher education institutions in Ghana in sub‐Saharan Africa used to overcome digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
The results show the following: evidence of students lack of access to affordable Internet bandwidth, adoption of remote education, using digital technologies for hybrid and remote courses, creation of ICT platforms for instructors and students, trainings on digital skills for instructors and students, and challenges of dealing with digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Implications for practice and/or policy The paper identifies the instructional strategies HEIs in Ghana used to address and reduce the challenges of digital divide during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
The findings were theoretically analysed under a three‐level model of the digital divide in education, proving the utility of this comprehensive approach. Then, they were interpreted concerning the development history of sub‐Saharan Africa to reduce the discursive unbalance in the digital divide studies.
The paper makes detailed recommendations on how HEIs can address the effects of digital divide on teaching and learning experience during future disruptions and increase the use of digital technologies and ICT tools in remote/hybrid and or distance learning environment in sub‐Saharan Africa.
Purpose
This paper according to the logic of the “digital access divide--digital capability divide--digital outcome divide” aims to systematically discuss the impact of the digital divide on individual happiness in China, accounting for the variations that exist across different groups, as well as the corresponding mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between the digital divide and individual happiness in China. The analyses are based on data from the Chinese General Social Survey 2017, which academic institutions run on the Chinese Mainland. This database contains information on respondents' Internet access, skills and consequences of use, which can measure the digital divide of Chinese individuals at three levels.
Findings
First, individual happiness declined when they experienced the digital access divide in China. For the digital capability divide, the lower the usage skills, the more individual happiness declined. When analyzing the digital outcome divide, the greater the negative consequences, the more individual happiness declined. Second, the impacts of digital access, capability and outcome divide vary according to age, gender, education degrees, hukou, region and sub-dimensions. Third, the digital access and capability divide reduce individuals' happiness by lowering their self-rated social and economic status, whereas the digital outcome divide reduce individual happiness by lowering their fairness perception and social trust.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is the first study to examine the impact and its variations among different groups of the three-level digital divide on individual happiness, as well as its mechanisms.
Despite the progress of the information society, there are currently still notable differences between the access to, and usage of, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and Internet for a broad range of activities by individuals in the regions of Italy and Spain. These differences could be related to features of material and social deprivation. With 13 variables of the 40 NUTS 2 of Italy and Spain, deriving from EUROSTAT regional statistics for 2018, the aim is to respond to the following questions. Is there a relationship between the variables of ICT access and usage by households and individuals and those of social and material deprivation in the regions analysed? What is the interrelationship? Are there differences between Spanish and Italian regions in the behaviour of spatial and regional factors? Factor analysis was used to discover the relationship between variables; spatial patterns were identified by means of spatial autocorrelation; and a typology of regions has been identified by using cluster analysis. The results show that there is a relationship between the variables of ICT access and usage by households and individuals and those of deprivation in Spanish and Italian regions, and indicate that the advanced and daily use of Internet in households is negatively associated with the variables of social deprivation; and the regions with higher levels of per capita income and daily access to Internet have less employment-linked material deprivation. These results also reveal the existence of a north–south spatial pattern in both countries, and six types of regions with homogeneous characteristics have been identified.
Through a survey with a representative sample of Dutch Internet users, this paper examines compound digital exclusion, that is, whether a person who lacks a particular digital skill also lacks another kind of skill; whether a person who does not engage in a particular way online is also less likely to engage in other ways; and whether a person who does not achieve a certain outcome online is also less likely to achieve another type of outcome. We also tested sequential digital exclusion, whether a lower level of digital skills leads to lower levels of engagement with the Internet resulting in a lower likelihood of an individual achieving tangible outcomes. Both types of digital exclusion are a reality. A certain use can have a strong relation with an outcome in a different domain. Furthermore, those who achieve outcomes in one domain do not necessarily achieve outcomes in another domain. To get a comprehensive picture of the nature of digital exclusion, it is necessary to account for different domains in research.
Digital skills are increasingly important for labour market outcomes and social participation. Do they also matter for academic performance? This paper investigates the effects of digital literacy on educational outcomes by merging data from the Italian National Assessment in secondary schools with an original data-set on performance tests of Internet skills for tenth-grade students. Our identification strategy relies on a rich set of individual, family, school and classroom control variables that are not commonly available in previous studies. The findings indicate that, overall, Internet skills have a positive impact on academic achievement. This effect is stronger for students with low academic performance or low family background. It is also stronger for students in technical or vocational schools.
Past studies have shown positive relationships between use of social network sites (SNSs) and political engagement, but understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship is limited because they often did not take into account the diverse affordances of SNSs that can influence participation in different ways. Adopting the O-S-R-O-R (Orientation – Stimulus – Reasoning – Orientation – Response) model of political communication effects, this study examined the roles of Facebook network size, connections with public political actors, use for news, and political expression on political attitudes, protest and participation. Structural equation analyses were conducted based on data from a national sample in Hong Kong, a city state with one of the world’s highest Facebook penetration rates. Results showed that Facebook network size and connections with public political actors exhibit both direct and indirect effects on participation through Facebook news, expression and efficacy. Facebook news exhibited indirect effects primarily though political expression. A discriminant function analysis also showed that age, education, and online news exposure were the most influential variables for distinguishing Facebook users and non-users. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Background
Those who go online regarding their sexual health are potential users of new Internet-based sexual health interventions. Understanding the size and characteristics of this population is important in informing intervention design and delivery.
Objective
We aimed to estimate the prevalence in Britain of recent use of the Internet for key sexual health reasons (for chlamydia testing, human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] testing, sexually transmitted infection [STI] treatment, condoms/contraceptives, and help/advice with one’s sex life) and to identify associated sociodemographic and behavioral factors.
Methods
Complex survey analysis of data from 8926 sexually experienced persons aged 16-44 years in a 2010-2012 probability survey of Britain’s resident population. Prevalence of recent (past year) use of Internet sources for key sexual health reasons was estimated. Factors associated with use of information/support websites were identified using logistic regression to calculate age-adjusted odds ratios (AORs).
ResultsRecent Internet use for chlamydia/HIV testing or STI treatment (combined) was very low (men: 0.31%; women: 0.16%), whereas 2.35% of men and 0.51% of women reported obtaining condoms/contraceptives online. Additionally, 4.49% of men and 4.57% of women reported recent use of information/support websites for advice/help with their sex lives. Prevalence declined with age (men 16-24 years: 7.7%; 35-44 years: 1.84%, P
Research on Internet use typically has been concerned with issues of access or activities people do online. This research has been fruitful, but it has not been fully linked to larger theories of stratification. Although Max Weber says little about technology, his general approach to studying society suggests concepts other than access and demographics will be important. From his perspective, the primary sources of social stratification are class, status, and power. As the Internet has become more important, it has moved to a steadily more central position in the stratification system. Thus, it is important to look at Internet use through a Weberian lens, asking how class, status, and power help explain who participates in what online activities.
Purpose
Research into the explanations of digital inclusion has moved from investigations of skills and usage to tangible outcomes, what we label here as the third-level digital divide. There is a lack of theoretical development about which types of people are most likely to benefit. Understanding how achieving outcomes of internet use is linked to other types of (dis)advantage is one of the most complex aspects of digital inclusion research because very few reliable and valid measures have been developed. In the current study we took a first step toward creating an operational framework for measuring tangible outcomes of internet use and linking these to the inequalities identified by digital divide research.
Methodology/approach
After having proposed a classification for internet outcomes, we assessed these outcomes in a representative sample of the Dutch population.
Findings
Our overall conclusion in relation to the more general relationship between offline resources and third-level digital divides is that the internet remains more beneficial for those with higher social status, not in terms of how extensively they use the technology but in what they achieve as a result of this use for several important domains.
Social implications
When information and services are offered online, the number of potential outcomes the internet has to offer increases. If individuals with higher social status are taking greater offline advantage from digital engagement than their lower status counterparts, existing offline inequalities could potentially be acerbated.
The digital divide was initially defined by socioeconomic variables, mainly the level of family income, but now it focuses on how the Internet is used and is called digital inequality. In the case of universities, recent studies have pointed to the existence of patterns that are dependent on a variety of socioeconomic variables. This article analyses the effect that the level of family income, gender and age of students from five Ecuadorian universities has on Internet use for academic activities and entertainment purposes. In the procedure applied to a sample of 4,697 students, factor analysis was used to reduce the data, and multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the relationships. The results show that the higher the level of family income, the better the technology use for academic activities. Regarding entertainment, the level of income does not determine the intensity of technology use, though it does determine the types of tool that students use. With reference to gender, men have a greater tendency Je-LKS to use technology for entertainment, but there is no difference between genders when it comes to academic uses.
Integration into the information society implies that information plays an increasingly important role in all sectors of society and holds distinct social and economic benefits. Discourses on the information society are, however, also associated with the digital divide and inequalities in access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Within sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is often regarded as one of the most information-integrated societies due to widespread mobile phone ownership, among other things. However, while ICT access has been emphasized, research also points to the role of demographic, socio-economic and cultural factors such as ethnicity, income, education and gender. This article discusses the results of questionnaire surveys conducted by Afrobarometer among probability South African samples in 2008 and 2011. The results indicate that individual Internet use and mobile Internet access were lower than estimated in the literature. Furthermore, gender gaps, as well as considerable gaps between population groups and educational levels, were found in Internet and computer use, mobile ownership and access to mobile Internet and accessing news via the Internet. Conclusions regarding strategies for bridging the digital divide and integrating South Africa into the information society are discussed.
As long as scholars have studied media, issues of access have been of great concern. Recent advancements in digital technology have framed disparities in access within the digital divide research and knowledge gap frameworks. While early digital divide research looked at access, more recent research has focused on how media are used differently across populations. The current research extends this literature by examining media expectancies across ethnic subgroups for a broad range of media (i.e., local newspapers, national newspapers, network television, cable television, radio, magazines, and Internet). Data indicate expectancies differ among African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics.
Although a number of instruments have been used to measure Internet skills in nationally representative surveys, there are several challenges with the measures available: incompleteness and over-simplification, conceptual ambiguity, and the use of self-reports. Here, we aim to overcome these challenges by developing a set of reliable measures for use in research, practice, and policy evaluations based on a strong conceptual framework. To achieve this goal, we carried out a literature review of skills-related studies to develop the initial Internet skills framework and associated instrument. After the development of this instrument, we used a three-fold approach to test the validity and reliability of the latent skill constructs and the corresponding items. The first step consisted of cognitive interviews held in both the UK and the Netherlands. Based on the cognitive interview results, we made several amendments to the proposed skill items to improve clarity. The second step consisted of a pilot survey of digital skills, both in the UK and in the Netherlands. During the final step, we examined the consistency of the five Internet skill scales and their characteristics when measured in a representative sample survey of Dutch Internet users. The result is a theoretical, empirically and cross-nationally consistent instrument consisting of five types of Internet skills: operational, navigation information, social, creative, and mobile.
This paper explores the inequalities in the Uruguayan education-to-work transition at the light of new technological determinants: the skills needed for critical and autonomous use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) or e-skills. While important cumulative experience exists regarding the increasing diversification of formal education and labor market pathways and its serious consequences for the process of Uruguay's social inequality reproduction, none of them relates to the role of ICTs. The central hypothesis presented here argues that even after controlling the factors traditionally associated with unequal pathways, such as social class, gender, cognitive skills, educational attainment and labor history, there is an additional explanatory component of ICT on occupational attainment at the first stages of education-to-work-transitions. With this objective in mind, nested logistic models were fitted, using a longitudinal survey with a representative panel of a sub-sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. Findings tend to corroborate the hypothesis, showing a statistically significant effect of digital skills attained until the age of 15/16 on white collar occupational achievements at the age of 19/20. Based on the model's results public policy implications for ICT training are discussed.
This study examines the digital divide between the Jewish majority and Arab minority in Israeli society as manifested by Internet access and patterns of use. The goals of this paper were to examine the digital divide between these two groups and to identify the factors that influence these gaps. The study is based on data from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics Annual Social Survey, collected in 2011 through face-to-face interviews of 5872 interviewees aged 20-65 years. Jews were found to have an advantage over Arabs in terms of Internet access and in terms of the two types of uses: capital-enhancing and recreational. Our important conclusion is that, theoretically, with background variables being the same, the first-level digital divide between Jews and Arabs can be considered closed; in contrast, the second-level digital divide remains even if human resources in both groups are the same. This gives reason to assume that beyond the impact of human resources, the second-level digital divide between Jews and Arabs originated from their cultural background. Israeli Arabs are a unique minority indigenous group with two affinities - to Israeli modern society (because of citizenship) and to the Arab traditional world (because of their religious and cultural roots). Closing digital gaps requires changes in basic social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Arab sector on the individual level, i.e., personal motivation, as well as on the community level, including collective sociocultural preferences.
Although Internet usage can benefit older people by reducing social isolation, increasing access to services, and improving health and well-being, only a minority are online. Barriers to Internet uptake include attitude and a lack of knowledge and help. We have evaluated volunteer support in helping older people go online. Knowing what value the Internet has been to older people who have just gone online should guide how it is "sold" to those remaining offline.
Objectives of this study are (1) to assess the feasibility of recruiting volunteers aged 50 years and older and supporting them in helping people (ie, beneficiaries) aged 65 years and older go online, (2) to assess the impact of beneficiaries using the Internet on contacts with others, loneliness, and mental health, and (3) to assess the perceived value to beneficiaries of going online.
Beneficiaries received help in using the Internet from 32 volunteers in one of two ways: (1) one-on-one in their own homes, receiving an average of 12 hours of help over eight visits, or (2) in small group sessions, receiving 12 hours of help over six visits. We assessed, at registration and follow-up, the number of contacts with others, using Lubben's 6-item Lubben Social Network Scale (LBNS-6), loneliness, using De Jong Gierveld's 6-item De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (DJG-6), and mental well-being, using Tennant's Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). We also assessed how beneficiaries valued going online using a Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach by postal survey.
A total of 144 beneficiaries were recruited with the aim of helping them go online via one-on-one (n=58) or small group (n=86) sessions. Data through to follow-up were available on 76.4% (110/144) of participants. From baseline to follow-up, the number of contacts with others was significantly increased-LBNS-6, mean 13.7 to mean 17.6-loneliness scores were reduced-DJG-6, mean 2.38 to mean 1.80-and mental well-being improved-SWEMWBS, mean 24.06 to mean 24.96. Out of six options, beneficiaries valued better communication with family and friends most and better health care least as a benefit of using the Internet. Out of nine options, having the Internet was valued less than having TV, but more than, for example, having a weekly visit from a cleaner. There were no associations between values placed on Internet use or volunteer help and psychological improvements.
Volunteer help to go online seemed to result in increased social contacts, reduced loneliness, and improved mental well-being and was valued quite highly by beneficiaries. Although the use of the Internet for health care was the least valued, improved social contact can improve health. Contacting family is likely to be the best "selling point" of the Internet for older people.
Background
Baby boomers and older adults, a subset of the population at high risk for chronic disease, social isolation, and poor health outcomes, are increasingly utilizing the Internet and social media (Web 2.0) to locate and evaluate health information. However, among these older populations, little is known about what factors influence their eHealth literacy and use of Web 2.0 for health information.
Objective
The intent of the study was to explore the extent to which sociodemographic, social determinants, and electronic device use influences eHealth literacy and use of Web 2.0 for health information among baby boomers and older adults.
MethodsA random sample of baby boomers and older adults (n=283, mean 67.46 years, SD 9.98) participated in a cross-sectional, telephone survey that included the eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) and items from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) assessing electronic device use and use of Web 2.0 for health information. An independent samples t test compared eHealth literacy among users and non-users of Web 2.0 for health information. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine associations between sociodemographic, social determinants, and electronic device use on self-reported eHealth literacy and use of Web 2.0 for seeking and sharing health information.
ResultsAlmost 90% of older Web 2.0 users (90/101, 89.1%) reported using popular Web 2.0 websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to find and share health information. Respondents reporting use of Web 2.0 reported greater eHealth literacy (mean 30.38, SD 5.45, n=101) than those who did not use Web 2.0 (mean 28.31, SD 5.79, n=182), t217.60=−2.98, P=.003. Younger age (b=−0.10), more education (b=0.48), and use of more electronic devices (b=1.26) were significantly associated with greater eHealth literacy (R2 =.17, R2adj =.14, F9,229=5.277, P
The diffusion of the Internet is reaching a level between 80% and 90% in Western societies. Yet, while the digital divide is closing for young cohorts, it is still an issue when comparing various generations. This study focuses specifically on the so-called ‘grey divide’, a divide among seniors of age 65+ years. Based on a representative survey in Switzerland (N = 1105), it is found that Internet use is strongly skewed in this age group leading to a partial exclusion of the old seniors (70+). Logistic regression shows that gender differences in usage disappear if controlled for education, income, technical interest, pre-retirement computer use and marital status. Furthermore, the social context appears to have a manifold influence on Internet use. Encouragement by family and friends is a strong predictor for Internet use, and private learning settings are preferred over professional courses. Implications for digital inequality initiatives and further research are discussed.
Rapid advances in technology have provided the potential to connect citizens to their surroundings in unprecedented ways. While many scholars examine different types of efficacy as a predictor of behavior (e.g., internal, external, and political), it is essential to examine how confident citizens feel in their ability to use the technology before understanding how they will use it politically. Research shows that perceived competence increases motivation, which is correlated with behavior. This study examined how traditional measures of efficacy and a new measure affect online political behaviors, concluding that technological efficacy is a reliable construct predicting online news use and expression.
With the development of electronic technology and forms of communication such as the Internet, it has become increasing difficult for parents to identify and mitigate the new risks to which their adolescent children are exposed. In this article, we compare the ways parents and adolescents living in urban areas use the Internet with those of their counterparts who live in rural areas. We based this comparison on data obtained from a survey of Internet use in Taiwan in 2013. The survey included 1079 junior high school students and 688 parents who lived in urban areas and 838 students and 729 parents who lived in rural areas. We found that parents living in rural areas had lower levels of Internet skills and intervened less in their children’s use of the Internet when compared with parents living in urban areas. We also found that, compared with their urban counterparts, adolescents who live in rural areas have lower levels of Internet literacy but a higher frequency of Internet use and they also engage in riskier online behaviours such as online game playing, from which they more often report harmful effects such as the theft of passwords or money. Our multivariate analysis of the data showed that increased levels of adolescents’ online gaming time and lower levels of parental restrictive mediation were associated with higher levels of harm such as the theft of passwords and money stolen online. We also found that lower levels of adolescents’ Internet literacy and lower levels of parental monitoring activity were associated with increases in adolescents’ cyberbullying victimisation. Overall, we found a clear difference between rural and urban parents and adolescents with both rural parents and their children being less experienced and knowledgeable of the risks associated with use of the Internet. Rural children are exposed to more risk and experience more harm.
Purpose
– In today’s aging world online communication is often viewed as a means to enhance social connectivity, and therefore well-being, of older adults. However, previous research on the influence of online communication on social connectivity largely disregards older adults, yields conflicting results and fails to assess the – debatable − causal direction of relationship. The purpose of this paper is to overcome these issues by developing four hypotheses related to who uses what, how, with whom.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors use a panel data study to test the hypotheses, including 302 older adults. Response rates are between 62 and 75 percent.
Findings
– The authors find, first, that older adults differentiate between social connectivity with other village members, i.e., village connectivity, and connectivity with friends. Second, the impact of online communication varies among these two types of social connectivity. Where e-mail use has a negative impact on village connectivity, it does not affect connectivity with friends. Facebook use on the other hand has a negative impact on connectivity with friends, but not on village connectivity. The negative effects were not found among those older adults that were already well-connected on forehand, indicating a buffer effect.
Practical/implications
– Policy makers’ implementing online communication tools to strengthen social connectivity of older adults, may want to carefully select tools based on the type of connectivity they aim to enhance. Impact needs to be monitored.
Originality/value
– The authors contribute by analyzing how characteristics of online communication tools, i.e., information richness and privacy protection, as well as social connectivity, i.e., geographical proximity and emotional closeness jointly shape older adults’ social connectivity.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to explore the correlates of online health information-seeking behaviors among Hispanic residents of a low-income urban neighborhood.
Methods:
Data were collected with a community survey from 1045 unique participants at ambulatory care clinics in a largely Hispanic immigrant community in northern Manhattan, New York. A descriptive correlational analysis was conducted using logistic regression.
Results:
A majority of the participants were born outside the United States (85.7%), and half (50.3%) had completed high school. A logistic regression revealed that five independent variables were significantly correlated with online health information-seeking behaviors: age, education, marital status, primary language, and health literacy. Age and Spanish as preferred language were negatively associated with online health information-seeking (OR = 0.93 and 0.50), whereas education and health literacy were positively associated with online health information-seeking (OR = 4.28 and 1.28).
Conclusions:
The findings have implications for designing online health information resources and interventions appropriate for the populations they are likely to reach. Furthermore, the findings highlight the need for special efforts to ensure access to reliable health information for immigrant populations and those with low health literacy.
The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society explains why the digital divide is still widening and, in advanced high-tech societies, deepening. Taken from an international perspective, the book offers full coverage of the literature and research and a theoretical framework from which to analyze and approach the issue. Where most books on the digital divide only describe and analyze the issue, Jan van Dijk presents 26 policy perspectives and instruments designed to close the divide itself.
This study explores digital equity by examining gender and socioeconomic differences in students’ use of computers at home. It presents research findings of a territory-wide survey of 825 eighth-graders from 36 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Results of MANOVAs and ANOVAs indicate significant socioeconomic and gender effects on the home computing of students, including (1) socioeconomic difference in access and hours of computer use, learning-related use and parental mediation in guidance and (2) gender difference in learning-related use, and parental mediation in guidance and worry. No interaction effect was observed. The research provides empirical evidence that will stimulate discussion on issues regarding digital equity and students’ home computing.
This study explores to what extent youths' perceived influence on their parents' adoption of and learning about digital media is related to digital inequality. Particularly, it investigates whether bottom-up technology transmission is associated with a possible reduction of socioeconomic-, age-, and gender-based digital gaps. Using a dyadic survey conducted in Chile, this study found that youths' perceived influence on their parents' adoption of digital media and their learning processes were associated with reductions of socioeconomic gaps in technology use, particularly regarding computer and Internet use.
This article reports an empirical study on the composition and socio-economic background of social support networks and their moderating role in explaining digital inequalities. It conceptually draws upon and empirically reaffirms Van Dijk’s multiple access model, acknowledging motivational, material, skill and usage divides, while focussing on the under-researched issue of social support as indispensible source of social learning. Besides a small group of self-reliants, the results indicate a pattern of relatively socially disadvantaged domestic support receivers, characterized by lower digital resources. A second social support pattern points to a relatively socially advantaged non-domestic support receivers (i.e. friends/colleagues), high in digital resources. Drawing upon the concept of homophily in social networks, the results indicate a link between offline and online exclusion, perpetuating digital inequalities.
Based on the idea that Internet use can be conceptualized in terms of depth (frequency) and width (differentiated) uses of the Web, this study explored how socio-demographic factors and digital skills are related to frequency and types of Facebook use among young adults. It used a face-to-face representative survey conducted in the three main urban areas of Chile among a sample of 18-to 29-year olds. The results found that men and more educated young people had higher levels of skills, confirming that the so-called ‘digital natives’ are not a monolithic group. They also revealed that digital skills did not predict frequency of Facebook use. Furthermore, lower educated young people tended to use Facebook more frequently. Although these results go against the long-established digital divide research, traditional digital gaps emerged when types of use were analyzed. While more educated and skillful individuals tended to use Facebook for informational and mobilizing purposes, socio-demographic factors and skills did not make a difference in Facebook use for social purposes.
Digital social networks have attracted the attention of a growing number of specialists. The use of digital tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to express socio-political demands or to perform protest actions has become a central issue for social science today. However, few studies analyse the factors behind this phenomenon using explanatory models based on analytical sociology and rational action. In this article, we take steps in this direction and study the socio-political use of social networks based on a methodological individualism model. Through an analysis of structural equations, we analyse how the individual and social factors involved in the use of the social networks to ‘do’ politics relate to one another. We conclude that attitudes towards the political possibilities of the Internet constitute an essential factor for this kind of political action.
This study examined the relationship between parental and adolescent eHealth literacy and its impact on online health information seeking. Data were obtained from 1,869 junior high school students and 1,365 parents in Taiwan in 2013. Multivariate analysis results showed that higher levels of parental Internet skill and eHealth literacy were associated with an increase in parental online health information seeking. Parental eHealth literacy, parental active use Internet mediation, adolescent Internet literacy, and health information literacy were all related to adolescent eHealth literacy. Similarly, adolescent Internet/health information literacy, eHealth literacy, and parental active use Internet mediation, and parental online health information seeking were associated with an increase in adolescent online health information seeking. The incorporation of eHealth literacy courses into parenting programs and school education curricula is crucial to promote the eHealth literacy of parents and adolescents.
In this investigation, a multifaceted model of Internet appropriation that encompasses four types of access—
motivational, material, skills, and usage—is tested with a representative sample of the Dutch population. The analysis indicates that while the digital divide policies’ focus has moved to skills and usage access, motivational and material access remain relevant since they are necessary through the entire process of Internet appropriation. Moreover, each type of access has its own ground of determination and they interact ogether to shape digital inequalities. Therefore, digital divide policies should address material, skills, and usage access simultaneously.
Despite the egalitarian rhetoric surrounding online cultural production, profound gender inequalities remain in who contributes to one of the most visited Web sites worldwide, Wikipedia. In analyzing this persistent disparity, previous research has focused on aspects of current contributors and the existing Wikipedia community. We draw on unique panel survey data of young adults with information about both Wikipedia contributors and non-contributors. We examine the role of people's background attributes and Internet skills in participation on the site. We find that the gender gap in editing is exacerbated by a similarly significant Internet skills gap. Our results show that the most likely contributors are high-skilled males and that among low-skilled Internet users no gender gap in Wikipedia contributions exists. Our findings suggest that efforts to understand the gender gap must also take Internet skills into account.
Within the e-campaigning activities of political actors in Germany, the Wahl-O-Mat has emerged as a popular ‘non-party’ online tool which has been used by millions of voters before elections in Germany. An analysis of the users can provide information about the characteristics of people resorting to this and other types of online pre-election tools. Based on an application-specific approach, hypotheses about the users are developed in light of the uses and gratification theory, taking into consideration normative expectations associated with the rise of the Internet. Whether the Wahl-O-Mat helps fulfilling these expectations is analysed by drawing (1) on data generated by an online exit survey of the Wahl-O-Mat users and (2) on datasets of the German Longitudinal Election Study 2009. The findings show that users of the Wahl-O-Mat largely belong to a group of young and politically interested voters who resort primarily to the Internet to collect political information.
In recent years, the Internet has emerged as an alternative information source on mental health problems. Yet, the profile of the typical Internet help seeker is to be determined. Based on data from a household survey of 2558 Beijing residents, the study investigates online information searches and help seeking for mental health problems. Multinomial logistic regressions are estimated for respondents' access to the Internet, and mental-health-related information searches and help seeking on the Internet for the whole community sample and the most psychologically distressed subsample. The study identifies a digital divide in online help seeking for mental health issues based on age, migration and hukou status, and socio-economic factors. Youth and high socio-economic status are significant predictors of Internet access and use. Among the whole community sample, rural-to-urban migrants are less likely to have access to the Internet and search information or seek help online. Among the most psychologically distressed subsample, urban-to-urban migrants are significantly more likely to have access to the Internet and search information or seek help online. Given the shortage of mental health professionals in China, online information dissemination and guided self-help, if properly designed, could offer a means to reach large numbers of individuals in a cost-effective manner.