The Impact of Digital Literacy and Information Literacy on the Intention to Use Digital Technologies for Learning : A Quantitative Study Utilizing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Abstract

Our society is undergoing a digital transformation extending to various areas in life. One of these areas is digital technologies in learning environments, such as those utilized in universities. As new technologies and tools are rapidly emerging, educational institutions are exposed to new digital applications and tools for teaching and learning. Simultaneously, new dimensions of literacy have surfaced, yet their relationship with the usage of digital technologies in an educational context has not seen much exploration. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the impact of digital literacy and information literacy on the intention to use digital technologies for learning. Built upon prior digital- and information literacy literature as well as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 framework, a new conceptual model is presented and tested with the results of 249 participants. The model is analyzed through partial least square structural equation modeling.

The findings indicate that digital literacy has more of an impact on the intention to use digital technologies for learning than information literacy. A significant relationship was found between digital literacy and the intention to use digital technologies for learning. However, this was not the case with information literacy. A mediation analysis was also conducted, where the results show that the relationship between digital literacy and intention to use digital technologies for learning is partially mediated by habit and performance expectancy. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis was performed, where age, gender and levels of proficiency were used as mediators, and some group differences were identified. This study concludes that digital literacy has a positive impact on individuals' intention to use digital technologies for learning purposes, whereas the same could not be said for information literacy and the intention to use digital technologies for learning.