Guidelines for Developing Digital Intelligence Quotient for Digital Citizen of Middle School

Abstract

These research objectives to: (1) develop and verify the consistency of a causal model of digital intelligence at the digital citizenship level for lower secondary school students with empirical data, and (2) study approaches to developing digital intelligence at the digital citizenship level for lower secondary school students. The sample consists of 450 students from grades 7-9 under the jurisdiction of the Suphan Buri and Nakhon Pathom Secondary Education Service Area Offices, selected through multi-stage sampling, as well as eight school administrators, teachers, psychologists or psychology professors, and experts in information and communication technology for education who participated in in-depth interviews. The research tools include questionnaires, measurement scales, and in-depth interview guides. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling, and qualitative data analysis through content analysis, data categorization, data comparison, and inductive conclusion drawing.

The findings reveal that: (1) the causal model of digital intelligence at the digital citizenship level for lower secondary school students is consistent with empirical data (c² = 144.67,  = 75,  p-value = .000, c²/ = 1.93, RMR = .016, RMSEA = .045, CFI = 1.00). The factors with the highest total influence are student motivation (MOTI = .68), self-directed learning (SELF = .40), and social support (SS = .18), respectively. These factors together explain 79.00% of the variance in digital intelligence at the digital citizenship level for lower secondary school students. (2) The study identifies six approaches to developing digital intelligence at the digital citizenship level for lower secondary school students.