The first book to systematically discuss the skills and literacies needed to use digital media, particularly the Internet, van Dijk and van Deursen's clear and accessible work distinguishes digital sk

This article discusses the development of task-based performance tests designed to measure digital skills among children aged between 12 and 17 years old. The tasks reflect authentic everyday situations to evaluate skill levels. The primary objective is to design performance tests that provide a comprehensive understanding of children’s digital skills. The tests cover three distinct skill dimensions: (a) information navigation and processing; (b) communication and interaction; and (c) content creation and production. These include several subdimensions, offering a detailed perspective on children’s digital skills. The development process itself revealed several methodological challenges that needed to be addressed, yielding valuable lessons for future applications. Key lessons from our cross-national experiences include the importance of involving children early in the design process, using a combination of open-ended and closed tasks, and allocating ample time to walk through the coding scheme.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is making its entrance in people's homes, differences in the skills to operate smart home devices need to be considered. This study examined (1) the levels of digital skills to use IoT home automation among Dutch adult citizens and (2) differences of these skills over gender, age, and education. Therefore, a performance test with actual real-life tasks was conducted among a representative sample (N = 99) of the Dutch adult population to measure digital skill levels. The participants performed tasks while using interconnected smart home devices in a virtual test environment. The results revealed that the Dutch adult population possesses insufficient data and strategic skills to use smart home devices to its full potential. Even less likely to benefit are the elderly and less educated; they showed the lowest levels of data and strategic skills. In addition, the elderly lack operational skills to use IoT home automation beneficially.

This study explores the complexities of workforce skill dynamics in SME digitalization, focusing on the Netherlands and Türkiye. The research uses international data to analyze the labor force's skill requirements in the digital transformation journey of SMEs. The findings reveal divergent digitalization trends and differences in demographic and economic structures between the two countries. Türkiye faces challenges due to a shortage of skilled labor for high-skilled positions and underdeveloped digital skills across various age groups. The Netherlands' aging population poses potential reductions in labor resources, while the need for specialized skills increases. Recognizing the importance of digitalization in both countries has led to significant strides, but the qualifications and demographics of the workforce significantly influence digitalization strategies and practices. Disregarding these factors may negatively impact the success of the digitalization process.

As poverty and digital exclusion interrelate, it is relevant to investigate how households in poverty may be best supported in relation to the Internet. Social workers have unique insights into supporting households in poverty, but their perspectives have received limited research attention thus far. Hence, we conducted semistructured expert interviews with 14 social workers to gather their perspectives on digital inclusion support needs. These interviews aim to provide key insights into the role of the Internet in fulfilling economic, cultural, social, and personal needs. While the potential of the Internet is highlighted alongside a few perceived benefits, such as finding free activities in the neighborhood or supporting each other on social media, social workers underline that the Internet may make administrative tasks more complex and may amplify stress. This research adds social workers' perspectives to existing knowledge on digital inclusion needs and poverty and assists in establishing related support and policies.

This dataset provides longitudinal survey data from a European project, ySKILLS, which was focused on the role of digital skills in youths’ development. It contains data from 10,821 participants from Grades 6-10 (in Wave 1) in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. The data was collected between Spring 2021 and Spring 2023, the participants were recruited through schools, where the data collection also took place, except for online data collections due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. The dataset is novel in its multidimensional approach to the construct of digital literacy. It provides insight into the development of digital skills in youth and the role of digital skills and internet usage in youths’ positive and negative online experiences and wellbeing. It also contains data that allows for the analysis of the role of digital skills in class networks. The data are beneficial for researchers interested in the examination of youths’ online skills, internet usage, online experiences, and wellbeing from a longitudinal perspective.

While poverty can be regarded as an issue with many different causes and dimensions, research indicates that enhancing digital inclusion may positively contribute to alleviating poverty. Therefore, it is of great importance to better understand the factors that may hinder internet appropriation for households facing poverty. However, no clear overview exists of the barriers to and outcomes of internet appropriation for this exact target audience. Therefore, a systematic literature review using framework synthesis was conducted to explore and map these obstacles in different stages of internet appropriation: attitude and motivation, material access, skills, and usage. Respective outcomes were also identified. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, a total of n = 1,596 unique records were identified after a systematic search in the Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases. Of these articles, n = 40 met the selection criteria and were included in the final review. The results underline the interwovenness of barriers in different stages of internet appropriation. The findings also highlight the importance of being sensitive toward one’s living environment in understanding barriers that prevail. In addition to barriers, a multitude of positive outcomes have been identified that highlight the potential benefits the internet can provide to people in situations of financial deprivation. Implications are discussed and future research directions are proposed to assist in enhancing digital inclusion for households facing poverty.

The benefits obtained from home automation are promising and will become more pronounced as smart home technologies continue to develop. To achieve benefits, users require operational, data, and strategic skills to control and automate smart devices, retrieve and understand collected data, and make informed decisions. These skills were tested by providing assignments in a virtual test environment to 100 Dutch adult participants. The assignments were designed to measure different facets of all skills by using the functions, data, and automations of smart home devices. The results suggest that the Dutch adult population is not sufficiently skilled in using the smart home to its full potential; several skills related problems occurred in the tests. Furthermore, in terms of gender, age, and education, home automation further reinforces existing social-digital inequalities. Thus, earlier digital inequalities will remain present for some time, despite increasing device autonomy.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming the next frontier for the digital divide, we argue that access to most of the IoT and its benefits are hindered by vendor lock-in. Yet, people with an advanced set of operational skills can find creative ways to overcome vendor lock-in. In this article, we study socio-contextual dispositions to why some people are better able to capitalize on IoT benefits creatively than others. We use interview data and a novel approach to a diary study using a mobile application among 30 households. By focusing on vendor lock-in against the interplay between operational skills and creative IoT uses, we find those with the least access to IoT benefits are users who mainly task-oriented and consider IoT tools to solve specific problems. Those with a more play orientation are better positioned to access IoT benefits and further develop their operational skills.

This study examined data and strategic skill-related problems that activity tracker users experience and the extent to which these problems vary by gender, age and educational attainment. A performance test (N = 100) was conducted to study problems experienced during actual use of activity trackers. Video data of participants' screen actions were analyzed by coding for skill-related problems regarding data retrieval and interpretation, and goal setting and decision making. The results revealed that both data and strategic skill-related problems are experienced by all users, but are particularly prominent amongst elderly and less educated users. Problems were mostly related to retrieving the correct data. Additionally, substantial problems were experienced in every facet of strategic use. Altogether, data and strategic skills are underdeveloped for the beneficial use of activity trackers. Moreover, the differences in the problems experienced among users cause widening digital inequalities.

Cognitive intelligence is rarely discussed in the context of digital inequality for practical and normative reasons: substantial difficulties around measurements and the fact that it cannot (easily) be changed. In the current contribution, cognitive intelligence is studied in relation to resources and appropriation theory which explains digital inequality as a process of four successive phases of Internet access: motivational, material, skills, and usage. For the measurement of cognitive intelligence, we build on considerable efforts devoted to developing alternatives to cumbersome intelligence quotient (IQ) tests of intelligence. We conducted a two-wave online survey in the Netherlands, resulting in a sample of 1733 respondents. The importance of IQ was confirmed with direct positive effects on education, economic, social, and cultural resources, and on Internet attitude and skills. The results reveal several details that can enhance our understanding of the specific mechanisms through which IQ and education operate in digital inequalities.

We consider inequalities within households to be an important step for increasing our understanding of digital inequalities perpetuated by smart homes. We argue that the key to understanding the use of the Internet of Things is household choreographies rather than individual practices. We specifically address different power relations between household members in regard to their use of IoT devices. Using interview data collected through five visits to 30 households in 15 months, we use abductive analysis to develop our framework that has three dimensions: materiality, accessibility, and harmony. We find that acceptance of the IoT's materiality by all household members is key, but household rules are also crucial to how well the IoT can operate. Parents can more precisely moderate their children, and data and privacy also require more moderation. In addition, the IoT can help complex household choreographies, but household choreographies that are too complex can hinder IoT use. Finally, we note that traditional gender roles remain prevalent in smart homes.

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The creative industry is a sector where digitisation inevitably changes work practices and the skill requirements are high. The rapid digitisation makes it imperative for workers to acquire digital skills beyond mere technical use. The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to offer a deeper analysis of the nature and level of 21st-century digital skills and (2) to explore the roles of both individual workers and organisations in skill development. In total, 24 interviews were conducted with founders and managing directors of creative organisations based in the Netherlands. The results show that they believe that workers' technical skill levels are naturally high; while in fact, digital skills might require attention when content-related aspects are considered. The first priority in this case should be to raise awareness within an organisation's management. Thereafter, intentional and structural efforts on the part of individual workers and organisations are needed to improve skill development practices in the workplace.

BACKGROUND:Considerable effort has been directed to offering online health information and services aimed at the general population. Such efforts potentially support people to obtain improved health outcomes. However, when health information and services are moved online, issues of equality need to be considered. In this study, we focus on the general population and take as a point of departure how health statuses (physical functioning, social functioning, mental health, perceived health, and physical pain) are linked to internet access (spanning internet attitude, material access, internet skills, and health-related internet use).OBJECTIVE:This study aims to reveal to what extent (1) internet access is important for online health outcomes, (2) different health statuses are important for obtaining internet access and outcomes, and (3) age and education moderate the contribution of health statuses to internet access.METHODS:A sequence of 2 online surveys drawing upon a sample collected in the Netherlands was used, and a data set with 1730 respondents over the age of 18 years was obtained.RESULTS:Internet attitude contributes positively to material access, internet skills, and health outcomes and negatively to health-related internet use. Material access contributes positively to internet skills and health-related internet use and outcomes. Internet skills contribute positively to health-related internet use and outcomes. Physical functioning contributes positively to internet attitude, material access, and internet skills but negatively to internet health use. Social functioning contributes negatively to internet attitude and positively to internet skills and internet health use. Mental health contributes positively to internet attitude and negatively to material access and internet health use. Perceived health positively contributes to material access, internet skills, and internet health use. Physical pain contributes positively to internet attitude and material access and indirectly to internet skills and internet health use. Finally, most contributions are moderated by age (<65 and ≥65 years) and education (low and high).CONCLUSIONS:To make online health care attainable for the general population, interventions should focus simultaneously on internet attitude, material access, internet skills, and internet health use. However, issues of equality need to be considered. In this respect, digital inequality research benefits from considering health as a predictor of all 4 access stages. Furthermore, studies should go beyond single self-reported measures of health. Physical functioning, social functioning, mental health, perceived health, and physical pain all show unique contributions to the different internet access stages. Further complicating this issue, online health-related interventions for people with different health statuses should also consider age and the educational level of attainment.

Considerable effort has been directed to offering online health information and services aimed at the general population. Such efforts potentially support people obtain improved health outcomes. However, when health information and services are moved online, issues of equality need to be considered. In the current study, we focus on the general population and take as a point of departure how different health states are linked to internet access (spanning attitude, material access, internet skills, and health-related uses). To reveal to what extent (1) internet access is important for online health-related outcomes, (2) different health states are important for obtaining internet access and outcomes, and (3) age and educational differences moderate the contribution of health states to internet access. A sequence of two online surveys drawing upon a sample collected in the Netherlands was employed, and a dataset with 1,733 respondents over the age of 18 was obtained. Internet attitude is positively associated with material access, internet skills, and health outcomes and negatively associated with health-related internet use. Material access is positively associated with internet skills and health internet use and outcomes. Internet skills are positively associated with health internet use and outcomes. Physical functioning contributes positively to internet attitude, material access, and internet skills but negatively to internet health use. Social functioning is related to internet attitude, skills, and health use. Social functioning contributes negatively to internet attitude and positively to internet skills and internet health use. Mental health contributes positively to internet attitude and negatively to material access and internet health use. Perceived health positively contributes to material access, internet skills, and internet health use. Physical pain contributes positively to internet attitude and material access and indirectly to internet skills and internet health use. Finally, these contributions are moderated for age (<65 and ≥65) and education (low and high). To make online health care attainable for the general population, interventions should focus simultaneously on internet attitudes, material access, skills and internet health use. However, issues of equality need to be considered. In this respect, digital inequality research benefits from considering health as a predictor of all four access stages. Furthermore, studies should go beyond single self-reported measures of health. Physical functioning, social functioning, mental health, perceived health, and physical pain all showed unique contributions to the different internet access stages. Further complicating this issue, online health-related interventions for people with different health states should also consider age and educational level of attainment.

Nowadays, adolescents grow up in environments where many aspects of their lives are mediated by digital technologies. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of psychological, cultural and socio-structural factors in the level of digital immersion in adolescents from southern Chile. A non-probabilistic sample of 469 adolescents was collected from schools with different socioeconomic backgrounds. A multigroup analysis was performed using structural equations modelling. The results indicate that family income moderate digital immersion model. Furthermore, for low-income and middle-to-high-income students, the attitude towards the use of digital technologies was the most important factor to predict digital immersion, followed by motivation. However, the results indicate differences between groups by family income in the following model's path: from navigation skills to social skills; motivation to satisfaction; self-transcendence value to social skills; and attitude towards the use of technology to motivation. This study provided an opportunity to move forward in the understanding of the relationship between Chilean adolescents and their technology use. These results indicate the existence of deep cultural changes in Chilean adolescents' life, which are strongly marked by the profuse use of digital technologies.