Digital skill acquisition in young people who had received leisure and free time training based on the DigComp framework

Abstract

The acquisition of digital skills by young people continues to be an educational challenge and, in this sense, leisure and free time (L&FT) is an education area requiring development. Through a descriptive and correlational study aimed at assessing the implementation of L&FT education programs, this research analyzes young people’s perceptions of their digital skills in the area of L&FT. Digital competence was measured using a custom designed questionnaire based on five dimensions related to the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp): information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, problem solving and security. The questionnaire contained 33 items and three attribute variables: type of participant, sex and age. The sample included 947 young people from different parts of Spain: 376 participants on L&FT monitor courses – trainers or students – and 571 young people who had not received any such training. The analysis shows significant and direct covariance between the five digital competences of the DigComp project in the L&FT area. In particular, the competences related to security show statistically significant results according to the type of participant, sex and age. The analysis found that L&FT training favors the acquisition of digital skills and compensates for training deficiencies in other educational areas.