Designing e-contents to boost parents' digital parenting self-efficacy

The use digital technologies offer many opportunities to individuals. At the same, they include risks and threats. Children are in unguarded group against the risks and threats. This situation, children's parents are imposed new responsibilities at the side of traditional parenting responsibilities. Parents should gain awareness and improve digital technology skill levels to protect their children. This research purposes to develop e-contents for improving digital parenting skills. For this, digital parenting content list was made and 144 contents were developed in the types of explanatory video, digital story, e-book, infographic and podcast by the content list. After e-contents were presented to parents, the effects of e-contents on parents' digital parenting competencies, attitudes and mediation levels were explored. In addition, the usabilities of contents which is explanatory video, digital story, e-book, infographic were also explored. The models of singular screening, developmental research and quasi-experimental research were used in this research. Mixed method was used in the collection of research data. The single group pretest-posttest semi-experimental pattern was used to obtain quantitative data. The participants' opinions and experiences about using e-contents were used to obtain qualitative data. The study group consists the parents were different socio-demographic characteristics and had a child is studying at K-12 secondary school (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade). 55 parents attended to the study analyzing of digital parenting skills list needs. 45 parents attended to the study analyzing of the effects on digital parenting competencies, attitudes and mediation levels. 12 parents and 6 experts attended to the study of e-content usability. As a result of the research, original and different types of e-contents were developed for digital parenting skills. The usability of e-contents was evaluated by end users and experts. The effects of e-contents on parents' digital parenting competencies, parenting attitudes, and parenting mediation were examined. It was concluded that e-contents were effective on the dimensions of digital parenting mediation which is direct intervention, common usage, restrictive interference with a specific content and audit.