Digital Literacy and Productivity among Senior High School Students of

Gusa Regional Science High School - X

Rivera, Krizzia Kaye A.

Ybanez, Odessa Wayne Beatriz T.

12 - Goodness

November 2020
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

Background of the Study

Beyond the phases of the “digital divide”, research has shown that there is still a

digital skills gap among students that requires attention. In these days, the internet and

the technology have been a big part of our everyday lives. Digital learning makes

students understand more. As stated by Baterna et al. (2020) Digital literacy facilitates

better learning for the students. Digital literacy promotes students’ competitiveness and

better opportunity in today’s digital world and in the fourth industrial revolution. Many

students entering in educational settings make the learning process meaningful by using

digital devices in digital environments. According to Benson & Kolsaker (2015), Digital

technology has become an integrated part of education. Students use interactive

technologies for learning practices such as reading and sending letters, using learning

management systems, reading e-journals or e-books, conducting online quizzes,

engaging in discussion boards, and so on. While mostly of the students use technology

in their day-to-day activities, they may not necessarily be familiar with or use

technologies for learning (Waycott et al., 2010). Ng (2012) claims that students may not

know how to use technologies for learning. The purposes, value and advantages of

instructional instruments are neglected or are not effectively used for a variety of reasons

in most nations. The Philippines has a population of 101 million with an offline population

of 63 million as presented by the World Bank’s 2016 Development World and the

Philippines ranks 11th in the world in terms of the highest number of offline residents.
More than 60 percent of the land area has little to no internet connectivity and has also

been stated to be the slowest internet speed in the region. As stated by McLaren (2017),

children who don’t develop technological expertise will be left behind in the digital

revolution. They may also miss out on the secondary benefits of learning technology

skills, such as building problem-solving and logic skills. The lack of digital literacy was

also a reason that students rejected or gave up on online courses. Many studies have

been conducted regarding attitudes toward online learning based on students’ personal

backgrounds or have focused on the relationship between learning efficiency and

attitudes toward online learning.

Theoretical Framework

This research was based on John Dewey's (1938) principle of Learning by Doing.

Dewey claimed that by engaging in relevant experiences, students could gain an

incredible amount of knowledge. It was also indicated that Dewey believed that it could

help the students improve their problem-solving skills through learning by doing, which

they could apply to their daily lives.

Similarly, this research is also influenced by David Kolb's theory of Experiential

Learning. According to Kolb, this form of learning can be defined as "the process

whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge

results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience.” This theory

has a more systematic approach and stresses how the learning process is influenced by

interactions.

These theories are correlated both to the digital literacy of a student and to their

ability to be efficient.
Conceptual Framework

The main objective of this research is to be able to understand how digital literacy

influences the productivity of students in school completion. In this case, digital literacy,

which includes the exploration of knowledge and the use of information, will be an

independent variable. The dependent variable is the productivity of distance learning

students, which includes the completion of work.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Digital Literacy
Productivity of Distance
1. Exploration of Learning Students
Knowledge
2. Use of Information

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Study

Statement of the Research Questions

This study aims to determine the relationship between digital literacy,

digital competence, and productivity of Senior High School students of Gusa Regional

Science High School – X.

Furthermore, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the mean score of the Senior High School students in digital literacy in

terms of:

 Finding information

 Using information?

2. What is the mean score of the Senior High School students in productivity in

terms of completed school works?

of the students?

Research Hypothesis

The study intends to test the following hypothesis:

There is no significant relationship between digital literacy and the productivity of

senior high school students.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would beneficial to the following individuals,

organizations, and entities:

Students. Students who are the prime topic of this research will benefit from the

study because it will make them prudent and conscious of how digital literate they are for

distance learning.

Teachers. This research would be helpful to teachers, as it will offer teachers an

understanding of how to strengthen the guidelines and policies that will assist with the

student's skill and efficiency.

Future researchers. This would benefit future researchers for this study will stand

as a guide to others who wish to perform a similar study. The aim of this study is to know

how digital literacy influences the productivity of senior high school students at Gusa

Regional Science High School – X.

Scope and Limitations

This study limits on the Senior High School students at Gusa Regional Science

High School – X. This includes an online survey only for students during Pandemic who

used multimedia tools for distance learning. This will follow convenience sampling in data

gathering.
Definition of Terms

The following terms are being defined operationally to affect clear understanding

in this study:

Digital Literacy. Having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society

where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital

technologies like internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices.

Digital Environment. A virtual or cyber-generated environment accessed or

created through the use of one or more digital devices such as a computer, tablet, or a

cellular phone.

Digital Revolution. Refers to the advancement of technology from analog

electronic and mechanical devices to the digital technology available today.

E-Journals. A periodical publication which is published in electronic format,

usually on the Internet.

Industrial Revolution. Defined as the changes in manufacturing and

transportation that began with fewer things being made by hand but instead made using

machines in larger-scale factories.

Productivity. Measures how efficiently production inputs, such as labour and

capital, are being used in an economy to produce a given level of output.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Foreign Related Studies

According to the study of The American Library Association's (2016), digital

literacy is the ability to use knowledge and communication technology to identify,

analyse, construct and convey information, involving both cognitive and technological

skills. It is also the skill getting the skills you need to live, learn and work in a world where

connectivity and access to information are rapidly made accessible through digital

technology such as online channels, social media and handheld devices. Digital literacy

is the ability to find, evaluate, create and communicate information using information and

communication technologies, requiring both cognitive and technical skills." It is important

to understand that even digital natives who know how to send a text and post to social

media are not by any way considered "digitally literate" with this ALA digital literacy

concept as a guiding light. In education, digital literacy includes so much more. The

value of digital literacy skills for learners and teaching digital literacy in the classroom is

recognized by principals, school librarians, and teachers for these reasons.

As mentioned by the Promethean (2016), Digital Literacy is different from that of

computer literacy. It needs critical thinking skills, knowledge of the required expectations

of conduct anticipated in online settings, and a knowledge of shared societal issues

generated by emerging technology.

these are comprehension that helps improve its ability to extract implicit and explicit idea

from a media, social factors which create organic ecosystems of sourcing, sharing,

storing, and ultimately repackaging media, interdependence shows how one media form

connects with another, whether potentially, metaphorically, ideally, or literally, and lastly,

curation that could help resist data overload and/or other signs of “digital hoarding” while

providing the potential to find, provide, collect, and organize.

Belshaw (n.d.) has also stated that digital literacies are transient: they change

over time, may involve using different tools or developing different habits of mind, and

almost always depend upon the context in which an individual finds himself. Given how

fast and constantly our media world is changing, cultivating and sustaining one's own

digital literacy is a lifelong process. The specific skills required will vary from person to

person based on their needs and conditions – ranging from simple knowledge and

preparation to more advanced and complicated applications. However the core principles

that extend to all networked media and are relevant to students – and adults – of all ages

remain unchanged.

According to Poore (2011), it will not be able to create liberating, social

intelligence until collective digital literacy is accomplished, and now more than ever,

maybe it can have the potential and the technology to aid us in the human mission of

defining, producing, creating and evolving our own community. Digital literacy is one

aspect of becoming a digital citizen-the individual responsible for how technology is used

to communicate with the world around them. Digital media helps people to connect and

engage with families and friends on a daily basis regardless of the "busy constraints" of

today's society.

Moreover, School leaders, media experts, and educators are continually

focused on the advantages of school digital literacy skills because students today look at
the Internet as a primary source of knowledge. Digitally-literate students know how to

search and consume digital content. They know how digital content is created,

communicated, and exchanged. Students who acquire digital literacy skills understand

Internet security fundamentals, such as developing good passwords, recognizing and

using privacy settings, and knowing whether to post on social media or not.

There are competencies that can be classified into three principles: Use,

Understand, and Create. Usage demonstrates the technological fluency required to

communicate with computers and the Internet. Skills and competencies that come under

use" vary from simple technological know-how to more advanced skills for accessing and

utilizing information services, such as search engines and online databases, and new

technology such as cloud computing, using computer programs such as word

processors, web browsers, email and other communication tools. Understand the crucial

piece-it is the collection of skills that allow us to understand, contextualize, and critically

analyze digital media so that we can make informed choices about what we do and

experience online. These are the fundamental skills we need to begin teaching our

children as soon as they go online. It includes how an individual recognize networked

technology and how it affects the beliefs and perceptions, behavior and feelings about

the world around them. And lastly, Create is the ability to produce content and effectively

communicate through a variety of digital media tools (Canada’s Centre for Digital and

Media Literacy, 2016).

Increases in inputs impose costs on society: increasing labor means less leisure

time; increasing capital expenditure means reducing current consumption; and

increasing commodity inputs decreases natural resource reserves. Growth in productivity

is our chance to increase output without rising inputs and incurring such costs. The

contribution of growing labor productivity to economic development in the United States

is demonstrated by historical or "time series" data on production and hours worked.

Since 1947, with a relatively small increase in hours employed, productivity gains have
allowed the U.S. business sector to generate nine times more products and services.

With productivity growth, an economy is capable of generating and consuming more and

more products and services for the same amount of work (U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, n.d.)

According to Jose (2016), successful learning outcomes of digital literacy

programs would mean developing a learner’s ability to work with newer contents (search,

retrieve, collect, edit, and manage information; comprehend multimodal and/or digital

texts; analyze, evaluate, think critically, and solve problems), connect with others to

communicate (write using new tools; share information with others) and collaborate

(learn through participatory discussions), and construct information (create new

information; design multimedia documents; re-design and mash available information).

Local Related Studies

Typically, internet use does not enhance interest in learning and the ability to find

information does not imply a correlation with student academic success. Students

conduct these tasks only if necessary and if necessary, find information through the

internet. However, their academic success and efficiency are closely correlated with it.

Taswir and Mehmood (2013) said that students generally gave a more scoring answer to

the use of online networks to write their class assignments, and students began to use

social networks for academic purposes (Baguia, M. and Moneva, J., 2018).

A survey undertaken by Learning.com between 2012 and 2017 showed that 75

percent of students in the fifth and eighth grades did not have the technological skills of

the 21st century. Digital literacy is above all, a key factor in education today. The

potential progress of students relies on their being digitally literate. Advances in

technology include interactive tools for education curriculum and contribute greatly to

digital literacy learning (Loveless, n.d.)

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