Our longitudinal survey across six European countries has unveiled distinct developmental patterns within the various dimensions of digital skills. While technical operational, programming, and digital knowledge skills have exhibited notable progress over time, information navigation, communication, and content creation skills have shown limited growth, prompting a need for deeper investigation into the factors influencing these trajectories.
The intricate landscape of digital skills is intimately connected with individual, social, and country-specific factors. Notably, age has displayed a positive correlation with most digital skills, emphasizing the vital role of experiential learning in skill acquisition. Gender disparities have surfaced across various digital skill dimensions, underscoring the necessity for gender-inclusive approaches. Moreover, self-efficacy has emerged as a robust predictor of digital skill proficiency. In the sphere of social interactions, our research has pointed at the negative impact of parental restrictive approaches on the technical and operational skills of children and young people. Additionally, the accessibility of digital technology and daily online activities has been closely intertwined with the acquisition of digital skills, highlighting the continued pivotal role of digital access in our increasingly interconnected world.
We have also examined the complex relationship between digital skills and online risks, identifying both direct and indirect links. While most digital skills did not directly influence risky online experiences, an exception was observed in the case of content creation and production skills, emphasising the nuanced relationship between skills and online risk.
While digital skills have displayed limited direct effects on psychological and social wellbeing, communication and interaction skills, as well as information navigation and processing skills, have modestly influenced perceived school performance (i.e. cognitive wellbeing) positively. In contrast, content creation and production skills were associated with lower school performance, revealing the complex interplay between digital skills and academic success.
Through interviews with vulnerable groups, such as adolescents grappling with mental health challenges, we have uncovered the complexity of digital skill development. Our findings have illustrated that advanced digital skills do not necessarily guarantee improved mental health and wellbeing. In some cases, skilled internet use has even led to riskier online behaviours, underscoring the importance of comprehensive digital literacy education that addresses both skill acquisition and responsible digital citizenship. The ySKILLS project research has also underscored the necessity of considering the psychosocial context and individual developmental needs of children and young people.
Our performance testing has cast doubt on the overall digital skill levels of children and young people in Europe. Specifically, we observed challenges in Information Navigation & Processing skills, including difficulties in assessing the credibility of online information and discerning the motives behind online posts. In the domain of Communication and Interaction skills, we noted a lack of clear, appropriate, and polite online conduct, suggesting the need for improvement in this aspect of digital behaviour. Additionally, our testing indicated limited success in adhering to guidelines for effective presentation slide design in the realm of Content Creation and Production skills.
