University students: Prosumers of digital and media resources in the internet era

Abstract

Despite the importance that digital and media resources have reached in our society, the acquisition of competencies for their suitable and responsible use in the educational context is not guaranteed. This study seeks to analyze the habits of production and use of digital and media resources of a sample of 252 Spanish university students, aiming to know their digital competence for an educational purpose. The results reveal a medium/high competence of the university students regarding the management of digital and media resources, as well as a positive perception of the network as a valuable source from which to acquire knowledge and expand information. They admit using digital and media resources to work collaboratively and help each other in academic tasks, although they do not produce academic content or information on educational platforms; that is, they considered themselves media consumers, but not producers. It was also observed that university students over the age of 25 are more active prosumers -in terms of academic content and/or information- than students under 26, who use the networks more to produce and share personal data.