A research of digital literacy competency level in terms of academic staff (The case of Munzur University)

Digital literacy is necessary even compulsory to be able to quickly access the right data on the internet, which is needed and used in all areas of life, to understand various software technologies and to actively use them throughout business life and education. In the Digital Competitiveness Report published in 2017, the general performances of countries economies are measured with 3 main components defined as "information", "technology" and "ready for the future". The weakest aspect of our country in connection with components is in the "information" component, which is ranked 60th. One of the sub-components of the "knowledge" component, our country ranks 49th in terms of "skills", 63rd (last) in terms of "education and training" and 48th in terms of "scientific density". This situation reveals the obligation to make a breakthrough in digital education and training to increase the competitiveness of Turkey (Sonmez,2018). The level of digital literacy of the academic staff who assume this role in higher education is an important factor from this point. The working group of the research comprises the academic staff working in the 2019-2020 academic year at Munzur University in Tunceli province. The purpose of this research is to determine the digital literacy competency level according to the perception of the academic staff working at Munzur University in the 2019-2020 academic year and to examine them comparatively according to certain variables. In the research, since the current situation is described as it is, the survey model was used and the quantitative method was used in terms of data collection. "Digital Literacy Level Determination Scale" which is developed in the data collection method was used. The scale consists of three sub-dimensions, the first sub-dimension "Instructional Technologies" (18 items), the second sub-dimension "Information and Communication" (15 items), and the third sub-dimension "Technical Competence" (11 items) that consists of 44 items in total. Parametric tests were used in the analysis of the data and the required statistical procedures and results were determined. In other words, since the data showed normal distribution, independent groups t-test was used in paired comparisons, and one-way analysis of variance was used to compare groups with more than two. According to the findings of the research, it has been observed that the digital literacy levels of academic staff are at a high level (x̄=3.73) and that academic staff have a great command of this competency area. In the sub-dimensions of the scale, "Instructional Technologies" (x̄=2.92), "Information and Communication" (x̄=4.14), "Technical Competence" (x̄=4.13), and "Information and Communication" It has been observed that its size is at a higher rate than other sub-dimensions. As a result of the statistical analysis made according to the variables of gender, academic title and branch of the digital literacy proficiency levels of academic staff, it was found that there was no significant difference (p> 0.05). There was a significant difference in the age variable (p <0.05). According to this, besides the high level of digital literacy of the academic staff of Munzur University, the results of the analyzes made for the difference in the digital literacy level in terms of some demographic variables, it was evaluated positively that the result was not found to be meaningful in general. It was concluded that the university administration should take new supportive measures for the staff in order to bring this situation to higher levels. Key words: Digital literacy, academic staff, literacy, education