Comparison of direct instruction and video-modeling in teaching digital citizenship skills to individuals with intellectual disability

It is useful to teach digital literacy skills to individuals with intellectual disability (ID) to support their involvement in the digitalized world and independent living. This study aimed to compare model-lead-test (MLT) and video modeling (VM) methods in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency in teaching individuals with ID how to access and use the services offered by the government in digital environments. Four individuals with ID participated in the study, in which an adapted alternating treatments design, one of the single-subject research methods, was used. As a result of the research, both methods were effective in acquiring digital citizenship skills to the participants. The effectiveness of the methods in maintaining skills and generalizing to different devices did not differ. MLT was more efficient for all participants in terms of number of sessions and intervention time. In terms of error percentage, MLT was more efficient for three of the participants and VM was more efficient for one. The study also presented non-target information about digital citizenship elements. Whereas the participants responded correctly to non- target information questions at an average of 10% in the pre-test, the participants' correct response percentage increased to an average of 55% in the post-test. Participants acquired on average, 13.25% higher level of non-targeted information presented in the MLT intervention. The opinions of the participants and parents who created the social validity findings showed that the acquired skills were used functionally by the participants in daily life, generalized to different devices and environments, and contributed positively to the self-confidence of individuals.