Title: The position of technical competence in establishing digital data security awareness

Authors: Hasan Kağan Keskin; Elçin Yazıcı Arıcı; Stamatios Papadakis; Michail Kalogiannakis; Işıl Yaman Baydar

Addresses: Primary Education Department, Düzce University, 81700 Duzce, Turkey ' Preschool Education Department, Department of Basic Education, Faculty of Education, Duzce University, 81700 Duzce, Turkey ' Department of Preschool Education, University of Crete, 74100 Rethymnon, Greece ' Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, Greece ' Pursaklar 80th Year Kindergarten, 06145 Ankara, Turkey

Abstract: This research aimed to investigate the explanatory and predictive relationships between digital literacy components and digital data security. The study was carried out with 322 students enrolled in the education faculties of eight randomly selected universities. In the research, the attitudes, cognitive and social variables of digital literacy were exogenous. A mediation model has been established in which the technical variable is the mediator, and the digital data security awareness is endogenous. According to the analysis results of the mediation model, the technical variable fully mediates between the attitude, cognitive and social variables, and the awareness of digital data security. These results show that developing digital literacy skills and if these skills are supported with technical knowledge can contribute to developing digital data security awareness. As a result, digital literacy skills will only have the expected effect on creating digital data security awareness with the technical information tool variable. According to our mediation model, the technical competence to be developed with the support of digital literacy skills and the creation of digital data security awareness can guide researchers and instructors working in the field.

Keywords: digital data security; digital literacy; mediation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2025.145295

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2025 Vol.17 No.2, pp.123 - 136

Received: 10 Oct 2023
Accepted: 18 Nov 2023
Published online: 31 Mar 2025 *

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