Introduction

Changes in the process of acquiring and using information, differentiating student characteristics, innovations in online access, connecting and sharing, and changing understandings from what to learn and how to learn have made it necessary to rethink traditional methods and reform education in the 21st century. From this point of view, first of all, which skills individuals should have and their reasons were questioned (OECD, 2005), and strategies were developed for the application of these skills in educational areas. In this context, many conceptual frameworks have been put forward, the main objective of which is to guide national curriculum policies for the implementation of 21st century qualifications in education (Erstad & Voogt, 2018; Voogt & Roblin, 2010). Although they focus on different areas, collaboration, communication and information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy have been included in all of these frameworks, and many curricula have been organized around these skills. With the digitalization of all areas of life, a new skill area presented as "digital competence" or "digital literacy" has taken its place in the education programs of different countries (Erstad, 2013; Erstad & Voogt, 2018).

In the light of developments in the world, Turkey is one of the countries that has updated its education program by considering the requirements of the 21st century. In the 2018 curriculum, it was aimed to raise digitally literate individuals and the relevant standards were integrated into the curriculum.

Textbooks play a critical role in achieving the goals of raising digitally literate individuals. Textbooks maintain their importance as a component of teaching by improving teaching at all levels of schools and in different disciplines, guiding the scope and content of the course, and being a guide of the course (Knight, 2015; Knight & Horsley, 2011). Due to its active role in education and training, digital literacy skills should be supported with textbooks along with other competencies. Due to its nature that concerns all disciplines, digital literacy should not be limited to technology-related parts of a particular course or curriculum but should be included in all textbooks. When textbooks from different disciplines are examined in the context of digital literacy, there is no study that examines Turkish primary school science textbooks based on global digital literacy competence areas. For this reason, it was necessary to examine the availability of digital literacy skills in primary school science textbooks. In this context, the aim of the research is to examine the primary school science textbooks used in schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education of Turkey in terms of digital literacy.

Digital Literacy

Although digital literacy was used to describe various skills in the 1990s, its popularization began with the book “digital literacy” published by Paul Gilster in 1997 (Bawden, 2008; Martin & Grudziecki, 2006). In the following years, many definitions have been put forward, like every fashionable term, and these definitions have been presented in a wide range from those focusing on technical skills to those focusing on cognitive psychological and social skills (Eshet, 2004).

The diversity and ambiguity in the definition of the concept has led to misunderstandings and poor communication among educators and researchers involved in the development of digital environments (Norton & Wiburg, 1998) and efforts to introduce global definitions and conceptual frameworks have emerged. Global frameworks have been proposed by various organizations to meet this need. The main ones of these frameworks are DigComp 2.1-EU, UNESCO (2018), DQ, Edith Cowan University of Australia (ECU) Digital Literacy Framework.

In this study, the digital literacy framework proposed by UNESCO in 2018 was taken as a basis while determining the criteria for reviewing textbooks.

Method One of the qualitative research approaches is document analysis. In this study, interpretive document analysis was employed in order to examine science textbooks with all their contents. The research data were collected from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade science textbooks taught in schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education of Turkey in the 2022-2023 academic year. Textbooks were provided as printed copies as they were distributed in schools, and PDF (Portable Document Format) formats were used when necessary. In the data collection process, an evaluation chart was needed to analyze which and at what level the digital literacy competence areas the textbooks contain and to ensure the reliability of the research. A content analysis chart was developed in line with the proposed UNESCO (2018) digital literacy competencies framework by making additions to DigComp 2.1, and the books were analyzed with this tool. UNESCO digital literacy competence areas and competencies are given. 0. Fundamentals of hardware and software Basic knowledge of hardware such as turning on/off and charging, locking devices. Basic knowledge of software such as user account and password management, login, and how to do privacy settings, etc. 1. Information and data literacy Browsing, searching, and filtering data, information, and digital content. Evaluating data, information, and digital content. Managing data, information, and digital content. 2. Communication and collaboration Interacting through digital technologies. Sharing through digital technologies. Engaging in citizenship through digital technologies. Collaborating through digital technologies. Netiquette Managing digital identity 3. Digital content creation Developing digital content. Integrating and re-elaborating digital content Copyright and licenses Programming 4. Safety Protecting devices. Protecting personal data and privacy. Protecting health and well-being. Protecting the environment 5. Problem solving Solving technical problems. Identifying needs and technological responses. Creatively using digital technologies. Identifying digital competence gaps. Computational thinking 6. Career-related competences Career-related competences refers to the knowledge and skills required to operate specialized hardware/software for a particular field. The items of the analysis rubric were reviewed by the experts and rubric revised to its final form after the necessary changes were made according to experts’ opinions. In order to determine the reliability of the data analysis rubric, the 6th grade textbook was analyzed by two experts using the same rubric. The reliability coefficient was calculated with the Holsti equation, which calculates the percentage of agreement between the decisions of at least two coders to encode the same data unit.

Findings and Results Of the 236 reference content related to digital literacy, 34.8% "Devices and software operations", 54.3% "Information and data literacy", 7.2% "Communication and collaboration", 3.0% "Digital content creation", 0.4% "Security" and 0.4% "Problem solving" competence areas. Competence areas and their representations in Turkish Science Textbooks 0.Devices and software operations: 3rd grade 66.7%, 4th grade 42.4%, 5th grade 29.3%, 6th grade 29.1%, 7th grade 24.0%, 8th grade 35.0% 1.Information and data literacy: 3rd 33.3%, 4th 54.6%, 5th 53.7%, 6th 54.2%, 7th 68.0%, 8th 50.0% 2.Communication and collaboration: 4th 3.0%, 5th 14.6%, 6th 10.4%, 7th 4.0%, 8th 7.5% 3.Digital content creation: 5th 2.4%, 6th 4.2%, 7th 4.0%, 8th 5.0% 4.Safety: 8th 2.5% 5. Problem-solving: 6th 2.1% The references to digital competence areas in textbooks increase with the increase in grade level. The area of competence that takes place at the highest rate at grade levels is "information and data literacy". There is no content in the textbooks within the scope of "career-related competencies". One of the overarching aims of the science curriculum is to develop career awareness and entrepreneurship skills related to science (MoNE, 2018). For this purpose, content references to career competency should be included in science textbooks according to cognitive and affective developmental levels of the students. The level of including "security" and "problem solving" competencies in the reviewed books is quite low. It can be expected that references to "problem solving" competencies would be low in primary school textbooks because they require higher cognitive skills that primary school children have not achieved yet. On the other hand, it is very important to provide the new generation students, who are digital natives, with security-related competencies protecting personal data and privacy. In this context, safety competencies should be included more in science textbooks along with other textbooks.

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