Media Literacy Research Group Developed a Digital Competence Enhancement Web Repository
The Media Literacy Research Group at the Institute of Social Sciences has translated and adapted the applied materials created during the international project ySKILLS ("Youth Digital Skills"). The website is accessible to everyone and is primarily intended for young people, teachers, support specialists, and parents.
Members of the research group, Veronika Kalmus, Signe Opermann and Mari-Liis Tikerperi, presented the ySKILLS web repository at a conference titled "Smartly on the Web: Digital Well-being and Mental Health" held in Tallinn on International Safer Internet Day. The website, located at sisu.ut.ee/yskills, features practical educational and informational materials that encourage young people to think critically, engage in discussions, and test their digital skills. Translated and adapted slide presentations, interactive exercises, discussion questions, and animated films can be used in various subject classes, theme days, and workshops focusing on digital skills. The ySKILLS educational resources can also be integrated into cross-curricular activities, such as addressing mental health or environmental topics.
Digital skills and mental well-being
"In addition to measuring digital skills and knowledge, our research also focused on young people's mental well-being and its relationship to digital skills,"
The results indicated that while good skills and knowledge help young people utilize the opportunities of the digital world extensively, they may not be sufficient to address complex situations that endanger mental well-being. Young people also need support and assistance from peers and adults.
Advice for supporting young people's mental well-being can be found in the ySKILLS informational materials, which were developed based on the results of qualitative research and involved consultations with young people who have experienced mental health issues.
The web repository also includes information on research methodology, ethics, and children's rights in the digital world, consolidates research outputs produced with the participation of the Estonian research group, and introduces the main findings of the ySKILLS longitudinal study.
Reliable Comparative Studies
Commenting on the results of school surveys, Veronika Kalmus, the head of the research group and professor of sociology, emphasized the significance of global digital media in young people's lives.
"We conducted surveys for three consecutive years with students aged 12 to 17 in six countries. We observed that in global media and digital culture contexts, the digital skills and knowledge of today's teenagers have become quite homogeneous. European school students excelled the most in communication skills, while performing poorest in information seeking and processing,"
"Estonian students showed the most improvement in content creation over two years – the proportion of students with very good skills increased from 40% to 45%," she added.
In the opening speech of the Safer Internet Day conference, Kristi Vinter-Nemvalts, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Research, also relied on the results of ySKILLS, quoting the findings of the EU Kids Online study on children's internet usage. "In addition to the PISA test, EU Kids Online, in which our research group has represented Estonia since 2007, and ySKILLS are essentially the only major international studies that allow for the assessment of Estonian youth's skills and experiences compared to their peers in other countries, and enable evidence-based policy decisions," Veronika Kalmus concluded.
One of the upcoming activities of the Media Literacy Research Group is preparing for a new data collection for EU Kids Online and applying for funding.
Text composed by:
Veronika Kalmus, Professor of Sociology
Signe Opermann, Research Fellow in Sociology of Media
