Characterisation and level assessment of schoolchildren’s digital literacy

Abstract

Relevance. The main trend in the development of the digital society involves active penetration of digital technologies in all spheres of human life. These conditions give rise not only to new opportunities for people, modern technologies, communication methods, problem solution, but also to previously unknown risks and threats. The formation of digital literacy of schoolchildren is becoming an important issue. In these terms, a special role is assigned to the school computer science course. This involves the need for descriptive characteristics of digital literacy and indicators for its qualitative assessment. The authors deem the use of praxeological characteristics of activity to be a promising direction in the solution of this problem from the standpoint of assessing the “correctness” of the use of digital technologies by the learners, their expediency, reasonableness, efficiency, safety and environmental friendliness. The purpose of the article is to identify the characteristic features of digital literacy of schoolchildren that help to assess its level – basic, intermediate and advanced – in the context of the praxeological approach. Methodology and techniques. The systemic and praxeological approaches to assessing the learners’ digital literacy are used as the methodological basis of the research. The Russian and foreign experience of its level-specific characteristics is analysed. When developing the indicators of schoolchildren’s digital competence, praxeological characteristics of human activity were used in the aspect of its efficiency, viability, maintainability, reasonableness, environmental friendliness, precision. The research results are presented by detailed description of the digital literacy level assessment indicators (basic, intermediate, advanced); fixing the specific characteristics of its pragmatistic component based on the praxeological principles of activity assessment and with regard for the priority ideas of the modern digital educational environment. The learner’s individual actions are assessed in seven areas of digital literacy: basic knowledge of hardware and software, information literacy, communication and collaboration, content creation, security, problem solving, career competencies. The scientific novelty is rooted in the context of addressing the problem of evaluating schoolchildren’s digital literacy from the standpoint of the praxeological approach that emphasises the pragmatistic format of digital skills manifestation in practice. The practical significance of the presented research results lies in the possibility of their use in educational institutions of secondary general level in order to improve the systems for assessing the academic achievements of learners in mastering the school-based computer science with regard for evaluation of praxeological characteristics of activity and the choice of most optimal formats for digital literacy development in accordance with the individual level of formed digital skills.