Development and validation of internet literacy scale for high school students

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Information Science
• Adolescent Development

Background:

• Adolescents require robust internet literacy for personal growth and lifelong engagement in the information age.
• Existing measures may not fully capture the multifaceted nature of contemporary internet literacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a comprehensive internet literacy scale tailored for high school students.
• To provide a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing adolescent internet skills.

Main Methods:

• Recruitment of 744 high school students.
• Development and validation of a thirty-item scale across eight dimensions.
• The dimensions include self-management, self-image construction, damage control, information processing, critical thinking, cooperation, consciousness of morality, and consciousness of security.

Main Results:

• A validated thirty-item internet literacy scale was successfully developed.
• The scale demonstrates comprehensiveness, reflecting the current understanding of internet literacy.
• The scale is structured across eight distinct dimensions crucial for adolescent online competence.

Conclusions:

• The developed scale offers a validated and comprehensive tool for measuring internet literacy in high school students.
• This instrument addresses a critical need for assessing adolescent digital competence.
• Potential applications in pedagogical contexts are suggested for enhancing internet literacy education.