Mapping internet literacy skills of digital natives: A developing country perspective

Over the last three decades, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have changed the world in all walks of life. It has not only influenced the ways of human communication but also changed the way of learning. However, to utilize the facility of the Internet in effective manners, people need a certain set of skills called "Internet Literacy Skills". The purpose of the study was to explore the level of Internet literacy skills of Undergraduate first-year students (Digital Natives) of the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. The study is quantitative, and data were gathered through questionnaires. A total of 180 students from three disciplines i.e. Pure Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities were approached for the final data collection. Descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression analysis) were applied to analyze the collected data. Results further revealed that respondents possess very good knowledge to identify legal and illegal activities and information on the Internet. Findings of the study, not only reported the Internet literacy skills of digital natives but also helped to come up with a theoretical model that may be useful to design an efficient and effective Internet literacy module/subject to help students increase their Internet use-related skills.