Deciphering digital inclusion: exploring its relationship with digital literacy and other related variables

Abstract

PROBLEM: In today's digital age, digital literacy is key to participation in society and education. This study explores how digital literacy and related variables are connected to digital inclusion. OBJECTIVE: To establish the relationship between digital literacy and other related variables with the digital inclusion of a group of master’s level students. METHOD: The study was conducted within the postpositivist paradigm and a quantitative approach, using a correlational, cross-sectional, non-experimental design. An online survey was used as the data collection instrument, and the sample consisted of 35 university students selected through non-probabilistic voluntary sampling. RESULTS: In the final model, the following variables were significant at an alpha level of 5%: number of completed ICT trainings of less than forty hours, knowledge of cybercrimes, knowledge of security protocols, and Digital Literacy, with a correlation coefficient of R=0.843, R²=0.711, and adjusted R²=0.673. The average Digital Inclusion index was 0.46, with 0.48 for women and 0.45 for men. The Digital Literacy index averaged 0.45, decreasing slightly to 0.44 for women and remaining at 0.45 for men. Regarding digital competence, the overall average was 0.41, with 0.40 for usage and 0.43 for knowledge. CONCLUSION: digital literacy is directly related to digital inclusion, with a coefficient of β4=0.152, which was significant at the 5% level. This indicates that a one-unit change in digital literacy results in a proportional change of 0.152 units in digital inclusion, suggesting that a higher level of digital literacy among students is positively associated with a higher level of digital inclusion.