Research Article
Andreja Istenič, Tina Lekan Kraševec, Žiga Turk, Maja Lebeničnik
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 18, Issue 4, Article No: ep702
ABSTRACT
Literacy is embedded in social practices that adopt socially constructed technologies. In the 20th century, the invention of the computer facilitated information literacy and computational thinking. Media literacy emerged alongside the development of media. In the 21st century, the accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots using conversational language has expanded significantly, creating a need for their integration in education. AI literacy is being studied within frameworks similar to those of its predecessors, requiring conceptualization and differentiation from related literacy concepts. As of 2025, teacher education regarding AI literacy has been identified as an under-researched area. This article examines AI literacy through the lens of pre-service teachers’ literacy competencies that will shape the literacy practices of future generations. During their own schooling, the current generation of prospective teachers encountered information, digital, and media literacy, as well as computational thinking; these are analyzed here as predictors of AI literacy, measured using the scale for the assessment of non-experts’ artificial intelligence literacy (SNAIL) instrument. Personality traits and mindset are also investigated as predictors of the prospective teachers’ professional competence. The study was conducted in 2024/25 with a sample of pre-service teachers. The research questions are: What is the structure of AI literacy in the sample? To what extent can AI literacy be predicted by components of information literacy? How much of AI literacy can be explained by various established technology-related literacies? To what extent do personality and mindset contribute to predicting AI literacy? The findings confirmed a two-factor solution for SNAIL, comprising technical understanding and critical application. Student perception of information literacy skills proved accurate in predicting the critical application of AI. In addition to information literacy, predictors included the media production subscale of media literacy and mindset. Technical understanding of AI was predicted by the media production subscale, the computational thinking subscales algorithmic thinking and cooperativity, and the personality trait of agreeableness. Establishing AI literacy as an essential teacher competency requires thorough research into AI’s educational impacts and strict alignment with pedagogical goals. Navigating the ethical and moral dimensions of AI usage provides the necessary foundation for this literacy. Consequently, training programs can intentionally foster AI competence by merging specialized literacy modules with algorithmic thinking, media production, and growth-mindset interventions.
Keywords: pre-service teachers, artificial intelligence literacy, information literacy, media literacy, computational thinking, personality traits, growth mindset
Research Article
Rida Afrilyasanti, Yazid Basthomi, Evynurul Laily Zen
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 15, Issue 2, Article No: ep414
ABSTRACT
The global expansion in the Internet access and the rise of digital media are compatible with students’ characteristics as generations-Z who mainly engage in nature through mobile applications. Because of the characteristics of today’s students and the growth of digital media and information, there is a need for critical media literacy (CML) instructions and the use of digital-based and student-centered learning approaches such as online discussion forums (ODFs). Through an exploratory study, we aim to understand better students’ perceptions of ODF for their CML learning within EFL classes, factors affecting students’ active participation in ODF, and teachers’ roles in ODF while facilitating students’ CML learning in an EFL context and enhancing students’ engagement and performance in ODF. 250 EFL students from Indonesian secondary schools took part in this study. The participating students were studying English with CML embedded into the lessons. The research showed significant conclusions about factors that need to consider while having ODF in CML learning within the EFL context and the roles of teachers in ODF. We have also provided some practical and feasible suggestions from which practitioners in the area might benefit.
Keywords: critical media literacy, digital literacy, EFL classes, students’ perception, teachers’ perception, online discussion forum
Research Article
Duygu Ispinar Akcayoglu, Gokce Dislen Daggol
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 10, Issue 4, pp. 416-429
ABSTRACT
Media literacy is defined as the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and to synthesize, analyze and produce mediated messages. Media literacy raises questions about the impact of media and technology, which has the potential to increase individuals’ awareness about the effects of media on daily life. The aim of media literacy is to help students become competent, critical and literate in media forms because they need to interpret what they see or hear and prevent the interpretation from controlling them. Therefore, perceptions of students about their media literacy is a topic that requires attention at various education levels. The present study aimed to identify preparatory year program students’ self-perceptions about media literacy and to explore whether they benefited from mass media in learning a foreign language, English in this context. Data were collected using Media Literacy Level Determination Scale developed by Karatas (2008). Open-ended questions that aimed to reveal students’ perceptions of media literacy were asked with a view to supporting the data obtained from the scale. Both data collection tools also aimed to find out the factors associated with media literacy. The findings of the study are believed to open a perspective for the stakeholders in language teaching process by providing insight into the university students’ stance towards media literacy.
Keywords: Media literacy, EFL students, Higher education, Preparatory school
Research Article
Bahadir Eristi, Cahit Erdem
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 249-267
ABSTRACT
This study aims to develop a reliable and valid scale to identify the levels of media users’ media literacy skills. The scale development process was carried out in nine steps as recommended in the literature. Before the scale was administered, the items were reviewed by field experts and language experts and a pilot study was carried out. Responses from 322 pre-service teachers, selected via purposeful sampling, were included in the analysis. Item discrimination was tested via item-total correlation and it indicated that none of the items were below .30. In the confirmatory factor analysis, it was found out that the scale and the theoretical model showed a fit between good and acceptable. Convergent validity, divergent validity and 27% upper-lower group means were also examined. As for the internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha value of the scale was calculated as .919 and alpha values of the factors were calculated as .768, .833, .720 and .838 respectively. The results revealed that Media Literacy Skills Scale, which consists of 45 items gathered under the four main factors of ‘access, analyze, evaluate and communicate’, is a reliable and valid measurement instrument. This up-to-date scale covers all main skills of media literacy and it consists of a sufficient number of questions to obtain rich data and ensure measurement precision. In addition, it covers new media as well as mass media and this
Keywords: Media literacy, Scale development, Media literacy skills, New media, Confirmatory factor analysis
Research Article
Eylem Simsek, Ali Simsek
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 126-137
ABSTRACT
The meaning of citizenship has usually been associated with the power of individuals in the process of social decision-making. Throughout the history, effective citizenship has required functional literacy skills as the fundamental factor for attending societal life. In the past, the 3Rs (writing, reading, and arithmetic) were considered to be enough for a normal citizen because people could communicate satisfactorily based on these skills in public spheres. They could also benefit through traditional literacy skills from the mainstream communication channels like newspaper, radio, and television. Depending on the linear characteristic of the mass media, participation of citizens was limited in the social arena. However, new communication technologies have changed the nature and scope of citizenship. New kinds of literacies have emerged regarding the new media such as Internet, Web, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, mobile technologies and so forth. Today’s citizens are expected to attend social processes anytime and anywhere. Thus, they are required to have mastery in new literacies which allow them to use all kinds of emerging technologies to share their views and make their voices heard. In fact, this comes as a requisite for real democracy because digital citizenship is largely based on contemporary literacy skills in which the technology plays an important role. This paper elaborates various kinds of new literacies and discusses their relationships with the current practices of digital citizenship from a technological perspective.
Keywords: New literacies, Digital citizenship, Media literacy, ICT skills, Effective citizenship, Web 2.0, Social networks
Research Article
Jale Balaban-Sali
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 265-277
ABSTRACT
This study examined new media literacy skills of university students based on Jenkins and his colleagues’ classification. Toward this purpose, an online Likert scale was administered to a sample (n=170). This scale included a multi-component understanding of media literacy such as tackling the consumption of media messages and the original creation of multimedia material. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was 0,93. The instrument was structured around three main sections; demographics, media use characteristics, and new media literacies (NMLs). The third section aimed to assess participants’ new media literacy skills by presenting them 60 items about their social and cultural modes of engagement, online interaction, and media consumption and creation patterns. The statements were conceptually built around the 12 NMLs skills identified by Jenkins and his colleagues. These skills are: Play, appropriation, distributed cognition, collective intelligence, judgment, transmedia navigation, networking, negotiation, and visualization. The results of the study showed that individuals who spent more time on Internet, social media, and blogging had the highest NMLs levels. Furthermore, young participants’ NMLs levels were higher than those over the age of 32.
Keywords: New media literacies, Social media skills, New media literacy assessment, Digital literacies, Measuring new literacies