An Investigation into the Digital Literacy Competencies of Christian Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigates the digital literacy competencies of Christian adolescents and explores their implications for Christian education. Using a sample of 284 Christian adolescents in Korea, the study employed quantitative methods, including t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation analyses, to assess five subdomains of digital literacy: 1) digital information and resource utilization, 2) digital content creation and expression, 3) digital communication and collaboration, 4) information protection and legal compliance, and 5) computational thinking. The results indicated that adolescents scored relatively high on the domains of information protection and legal compliance as well as digital communication and collaboration, whereas their levels of computational thinking and digital content creation and expression were notably lower. A significant positive correlation was found between overall digital literacy and faith maturity. In particular, participants with higher levels of faith maturity achieved higher mean scores in the domains of digital content creation and expression and information protection and legal compliance, compared to those with average or lower faith levels. Based on these findings, this study suggested the importance of implementing targeted digital literacy education for Christian adolescents, cultivation of computational thinking to foster Christian problem-solving abilities, the enhancement of digital literacy competence through faith maturity development, and the incorporation of Christian digital ethics alongside training in Christian digital content creation.