Digital Literacy Among Secondary School and Madrassa Students: A Perspective from Bangladesh

Digital media is popular among young users with the rapid popularisation of smartphones and wider internet accessibility, in line with the government’s aim of achieving the envisioned ‘Digital Bangladesh’. Along with positive effects of such media, many problems arise from their uninformed use, causing confusion among users as to which information to trust and how to differentiate truth from misinformation and disinformation. By adopting a mixed-method design, the digital literacy of sixth to ninth grade students (N=2400) of 16 schools and 8 madrasahs located in eight divisions of Bangladesh was examined. In the cross-sectional survey the students were interviewed, while the FGDs of their parents and teachers were conducted. Students’ access, use and competency, their ability to analyse digital content, having a critical approach to digital media, creativity in using digital media and their knowledge of ICT laws were considered as key aspects to assess their digital literacy. Our findings show that urban, high school and male students have a greater degree of digital literacy than rural and semiurban, madrasah and female students respectively. However, a significant number of students were found to be vulnerable to fake news, having no knowledge of the process of news production.