A dataset about Spanish young people’s digital skills, use of technology and online platforms

Introduction

The datafication scenario of the current communicative ecosystem poses a challenge to media and digital literacy, especially in terms of participation and civic and democratic engagement of youth. According to Middaugh and Kahne (2013), in a world that is increasingly saturated with new media and with many young people expressing themselves publicly, it is essential to support their ability to act efficiently and responsibly in these contexts. Young people often feel the need and desire to receive support with how to use digital platforms in an effective way, which allows them to participate in productive exchanges, especially exchanges where they can clash with other points of view and generate conflicts. This need should result in greater efforts to integrate digital media in the youth practices and activities to compensate for the divides that exist between home and school with the aim to help young people to understand technology and the risks and benefits that it can result in.

In this sense, young people need skills and competencies to make the most of the benefits of the internet and digital media. This is especially relevant to bridge the socioeconomic and political and cultural participation gap (Livingstone et al., 2021). To contribute to the promotion of digital literacy among young people, an insightful knowledge of their current situation related to digital media is needed. Thus, the project in which this dataset frames, explores how certain uses of the internet and social media allow young people to position themselves and stand as political actors or performers involved in social, cultural and economic political life. In this sense, the dataset includes four sections: use of different technological devices, digital literacy competencies, ICT use in formal and informal learning, and the effect of using digital technologies on social life. To include the impact of COVID-19 crisis on digital social education, the project specifies some relevant questions to during and after COVID-19 lockdown.

Methods

Sample of study

Through a simple random sampling strategy, 600 youth completed the questionnaire, with an average duration of 13 minutes per person. The sample response rate was 62.11%, with a margin of error of 4% for the sample set, with a 95% confidence level (1.96 sigmas) and maximum indeterminate P=Q=50%. Subsequently, stratification was weighted to fine-tune the weights of the interviewees with the population data from the final study universe. The weight coefficient reference data were calculated and using the variables “Nielsen area”, “municipality size”, “gender” and “age” from the last wave of the Spanish General Media Study (EGM).

Results

The results were processed using IBM SPSS Statistics 24®. We first performed a descriptive statistical analysis of the survey’s Likert scale variables, including calculating means and standard deviations. In what follows, we highlight key data relating to the respondents’ autonomously self-reported skills.

Regarding the purposes that they use different digital technology (Table 1), the results show that the majority of young people (87.5%) use mobile for entertainment, (59.7%) use computer for information and (58.7%) for work, (46.2%) of them use video game console for entertainment but 50% do not use it at all. More than half of them (59.2%) don’t use tablets, and smart watches (66%).

With regard to the purposes of using digital platforms, apps or social media, (Table 2), the results show that the majority of young people (86.7%) use WhatsApp for communication, YouTube (89.7%), Instagram (86.5%), and TikTok (75.2%) for entertainment, while the majority of them don’t use Telegram (60.2%), LinkedIn (80.7), Facebook (66.2%), Snapchat (64.2%), Twitter (46.2%), Twitch (59.7%), and Discord (56%).

Regarding time, 64.3% of the young people claimed that they spent more time as an internet user since the start of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In what follows, the respondents specified the tendency of their time spent on different activities using the internet during spring 2020 home lockdown. They also asked to compare the quality of each activity (Table 3). The results demonstrate that the young people spent more or the same amount of time on all the mentioned activities except participating in cultural activities in which (53.8%) of them claimed spending less time during lock down. In respect of quality, the majority of the activities were declared to be of the same quality or better. According to the respondents, activities such as communication with friends, listening to music and watching series had better quality during lockdown. However, they mentioned less quality for studying which required remote school activities during lockdown.

With regard to technical skills (Table 4), the results show that 73.4% of young people claim to know how to install/uninstall basic programs and applications without help. Most young people report knowing how to browse the internet and use related services for everyday purposes, with 80.7% saying they can do this without help. Fewer young people appear to use content management platforms to produce multimedia publications, with only 26.6% claiming to know how to do this without help. Meanwhile, 58.4% of the respondents say they know how to record, edit and upload video content to the internet without help. As for sharing and distributing digital multimedia content, 69.7% of the young people surveyed say they can do this without help. A total of 66.6% of young people say they know how to work with others using digital collaboration tools without help. Only 27.8% of young people say they know how to set up digital services and use tools to increase online privacy and anonymity without needing help. In terms of knowing how to read and/or write computer code, only 19.2% say they can do this without help. Similarly, few young people claim to know how to repair and/or service devices without help (25.5%).

In terms of informational skills (Table 5), 49.4% of young people say they know how to check the reliability and truthfulness of information without help. Among young people, 54% say they know how to classify and filter information to suit their interests without help. A total of 69.9% of young people 69.9% say they are able to find and save information for use when they need it. With respect to social informational skills, 64.4% of the respondents say they know how to display self-control when interacting with others on social media and digital forums so as not to react impulsively. Regarding spotting so-called “trolls” in online discussions, 58.5% of the young people surveyed claim to have this skill, while 47.3% report knowing how to tell when they are interacting with a bot. According to this sample, 68.8% of young people are able to manage the various profiles that make up their digital identity. Meanwhile, 68.2% say they know how to adapt their behavior according to the standards of each platform. Among the young people surveyed, 56.8% report being able to identify their needs and find tools and platforms to fulfill them without help. Less than half of the young people in our sample (45.5%) say they are able to take part in online deliberation and decision-making processes; 17.6% say they know how to do this and could teach others, while 27.9% say they simply know how to do this alone.

In terms of critical knowledge (Table 6), 22.9% of the respondents say they know a lot or a fair amount about the basic features of digital services. Of the young people surveyed, 33.6% say they know a lot or a fair amount about how technology companies use personal data. Meanwhile, 21.7% of young people say they know a lot or a fair amount about laws dealing with issues related to digital technologies. Only 22.4% say they know a lot or a fair amount about the influence of technology companies on public policy. Finally, 31.9% of young people say they know how the technological devices they use are manufactured.

With regard to ICT use in formal and informal learning, the results show that the first three topics for which the young people use the internet to find information are education 60.5%, digital technology 51.2%, and job-related information 48.9%. Regarding the use of ICT to acquire or improve skills, the first four fields reported by young people are video games 54.6%, sport 51.6%, cooking 43.2% and fashion & beauty 42,4%. In respect of self-directed learning, they have been asked to choose the first three things to find information. The results show that first watching online videos (62.7%), then browsing online resources such as books and article 57.7%), and finally asking a family member, or a friend (54.8%).

In reference to specific training in digital technologies in secondary school or university 34.6% said that they attended talks about uses (security, cyberbullying, etc.), 26.6% attended specific training sessions at their school or university, while 28.4% did not receive such training. With respect to class participation rating, the majority, 29.6% of young people, claim a fairly engagement during in person classes while the majority of them, 31.4% said they engage somehow during online learning. Regarding the procedures used in online education by schools, 64.4% of respondents reported that the most used initiative that conducts online learning activities is Emailing study materials with supporting tasks and instructions. On the subject of use and assessment of different online teaching initiatives, 92.7% voted for interactive exercises, 90% Online forms (no assessment) and 89.6% for online games. Then they have been asked to assess their experience in online classes. 39.6% of the young people claim their disagreement to the statement “my teachers stimulate my interest during online classes” while 38.6% of them neither agreed nor disagreed. Similar results have been seen about the second statement “my teachers come well prepared and organized for each online class”, 36.8% disagreed and 33.4% assessed it as average.

On the subject of use and assessment of different online teaching initiatives, 92.7% voted for interactive exercises, 90% online forms (no assessment) and 89.6% for online games. Then they were asked to assess their experience in online classes. 39.6% of the young people disagree with the statement “my teachers stimulate my interest during online classes’, while 38.6% of them neither agreed nor disagreed. Similar results have been seen regarding the second statement, “my teachers come well prepared and organized for each online class”, 36.8% disagreed and 33.4% assessed it as average. The answer to their preference towards synchronous online classes (all participants connected at once) rather than asynchronous (via videos, material or educational resources previously provided by the teacher) were similar three grades of agreement. Finally, the majority of the young people 62.7% evaluated that the outcome of education during the pandemic (in online format) was worse than before.

In relation to perception of young people about digital technologies, the ranking according to how relevant they think digital technologies are for young people was as following: 26.8% rated first the creating a collective identity (e.g., forming groups to share likes, interests or concerns), participating in activities proposed by institutions 21.9%, achieving common goals (e.g., organizing events or activities) 21.2%, making claims and carrying out actions in-person and non-virtual environments 15.3%, and co-designing the activities in which they participate 14.8%.

With respect to the impact of use of digital technologies on young people (Table 7), the following concepts have been most as ranked neither positive nor negative: psychological well-being (42.7%), Communication with adults (42.3%), individual identity (37%), ability to organize themselves into groups (37.8%), Acceptance of established social norms (42.2%), and decision-making and social autonomy (37.9%). However, the concepts of ability to argue and discuss (39%), socialization among equals (39.7%), and the ability to express themselves as individuals (34.8%), have been most ranked positively.