A comparison of the views and the expectations of parents, students and teachers regarding digital technologies and the formation of digital literacy

The purpose of the fundamental project “Digital Competencies and Media Education at Pre-school and Primary School Age” (DN 05/8) that this article is part of is to study and explore the conditions, methods, and approaches that need to be applied for the propaedeutic acquisition and formation of digital competences. The specific objective is to investigate the connection between interest in reading and the level of digital literacy of students up to 11 years old. The focus in this article is a comparison between results from three surveys – for students, parents and teachers and their interpretations towards digital technology and the formation of digital literacy of students up to 11 years old. The Questionnaires are designed with four sections – „Reading“, „Digital literacy“, „Connection between reading and digital literacy's formation of students up to 11 years old” and Demographic section. 637 children from 13 Bulgarian towns; 144 parents and 186 teachers were surveyed. It is important to analyse the respondents’ answers connected with questions about their abilities for using digital devices as content creation, communication, problem solving and safety.

There is a significant difference between students’ self-assessments and their teachers’ assessments towards to digital competence. According to Self-Assessment Grid for Digital competence (Europass) 35% of the students defined their selves as basic users; 29% - as independent users and the 29% - as proficient users. However, almost 1/3 of these 182 ‘proficient users’ don’t know about dangerous in Internet and how to block someone’s account. 88% of teachers answered that the students don’t study subject as ITs. May be the explanation is that there aren’t computer equipment in many Bulgarian schools. Parents' answers demonstrate one thing – the lack of control over screen time, the lack of commitment, and the negligence of the risks of long standing on the screen. 9% of the surveyed parents said that their children started using digital devices before they turned one year old. Students calmly respond that they use the devices for 13-14 hours per day. The study of comparison between parents’, teachers’ and students’ answers towards digital competence and its relation to children’s lives can contribute to acquiring sustainable knowledge that can be used in teachers’ guidebooks, educational policies and recommendations for parents and practitioners.