Digital Literacy and Its Role in Social Development

  • Authors

    • Dr. Grace Ndlovu Associate Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Author
    • Samuel Johnson Senior Operations Manager, MTN Group, South Africa. Author

    DOI:

    https://doi.org/10.67228/3071561X/IJIRHT-2020PI5N2M

    Published 04-05-2020

  • Digital Literacy, Social Development, Digital Divide, Information Society, Digital Inclusion, ICT Education, Digital Skills Index, Civic Engagement, Socioeconomic Growth, Sustainable Development

    Issue

    Vol. 3 No. 1 (2020)

    Section

    Articles

    How to Cite

    [1]
    G. Ndlovu and S. Johnson, “Digital Literacy and Its Role in Social Development”, IJIRHT, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 01–13, Apr. 2020, doi: 10.67228/3071561X/IJIRHT-2020PI5N2M.

  • Abstract

    The new competencies of the twenty-first century have become a fundamental element of digital literacy that has impacted on economic growth, social inclusion, government and sustainable development. With the evolution of societies towards the economy of knowledge, the availability of digital technologies enabling the speed of accessing, assessing, producing, and communicating information becomes crucial to the empowerment of individuals and the overall development of the society. In this paper, the presenter is going to write a multidimensional analysis of digital literacy and the role it plays in the social development. It discusses conceptual underpinnings, international framework, research findings, and methods of establishing the effects of digital literacy on education, labor, health, civic participation, and social justice. The research takes a mixed-method approach of analysis that involves quantitative modeling and synthesis of secondary data. A Digital Literacy Index (DLI) is built based on weighted indicators, which include: technical skills, cognitive skills, information evaluation ability, and digital ethics awareness. The digital literacy and social development relationship are modeled by adopting the regression-based and structural equation modeling approaches. Findings show that the positive relationship in digital literacy levels and major social development variables, such as the rate of employment, access to government services, income and civic engagement, is statistically significant. The results indicate that digital literacy can serve as a social equalizer provided there is an inclusive form of infrastructure, policy frameworks, and improvement in education. Nevertheless, digital gaps that are founded on geography, gender, income and education still restrict equal results. The policy suggestions focus on combined digital education programs, government-corporate strategies, rural internet access programs, and ethical-digital citizenship education. The study is important to the body of literature as it presents a syntactic quantitative model of assessing the role of digital literacy in the social development. It offers evidence-based information to policymakers, educators, and development agencies to focus on digital transformation to achieve inclusive development.

  • References

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