DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION SUPPORTED BY BLENDED LEARNING IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the impact of blended learning (BL) supported digital citizenship (DC) education on students' DC, digital literacy (DL), and information communication technologies (ICT) skills. In this context, the aim was to answer the question: How does BL-supported DC education impact primary school students' DC, DL, and ICT? This research was conducted using a quasi-experimental design, one of the quantitative research designs. The research study group consisted of 82 fourth-grade primary school students, divided into control and experimental groups. The research presented BL-supported DC education activities to the experimental group and DC education activities to the control group using the direct explanation method. DC education, as an intervention, was applied to the study group for 11 weeks. Data were collected through DC, DL, and ICT scales. The data obtained through the scales were analyzed with t-tests for dependent and independent samples. According to the results, the DC, DL, and ICT scores of the experimental group, which participated in the BL-supported education, among the two groups that received DC education, were higher than the control group who participated in the education given with plain instruction. BL students' digital skills were more affected. These results underscore the significance of BL-supported DC education.

Keywords: Blended learning, digital citizenship, digital literacy, information technologies, communication technologies.

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