Investigating the role of preservice teachers’ digital transformation awareness in shaping their information literacy skills

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between preservice teachers' digital transformation awareness and their 21st-century information literacy skills. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with 378 preservice teachers at a Turkish state university. Data were collected through a Personal Information Form, the Digital Transformation Awareness in Education Scale, and the 21st Century Information Literacy Skills Scale. Analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, correlation, and hierarchical regression analyses. The findings revealed that preservice teachers possessed moderate levels of digital transformation awareness and high levels of information literacy skills. No significant differences were found in digital transformation awareness or information literacy skills in terms of gender. However, significant differences were observed across year of study and technology-assisted instructional experience, with upper-year students and those with more frequent and technology-assisted instructional experience demonstrating higher levels of both skills. Daily internet usage significantly predicted digital transformation awareness but not information literacy skills. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that digital transformation awareness, year of study, and frequency of technology-assisted instructional experience together explained 28% of the variance in information literacy skills, with digital transformation awareness being the strongest predictor. These results suggest that enhancing preservice teachers’ awareness of digital transformation in education may play a key role in fostering their information literacy skills, which are critical for effective teaching in digitally rich learning environments.