Research Issues in IT Summary Two 1

Running head: RESEARCH ISSUES IN IT SUMMARY TWO

Research Issues in Instructional Technology Summary Two: Investigating Student Gender and
Grade Level Differences in Digital Citizenship Behavior

Frederick William Wright, II

University of West Georgia

 Research Issues in IT Summary Two 2

Lyons, R. (2012). Investigating student gender and grade level differences in digital citizenship
behavior (Order No. 3524065). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full
Text. (1038378905). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1038378905?
accountid=15017
Review of Literature

The review literature chronicles several sources that identify the importance of digital

citizenship, as well as the growth of risky online behavior in children. Three major government

studies are listed. The first is Youth Safety on a Living Internet (Nigam & Collier, 2010), in

which a federally funded study by the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG)

identified the need for greater education of childrens awareness of online behavior. The study

provides statistical data in 3 major categories: Internet safety education, child protection

technology and child pornography reporting. The second study was Enhancing Child Safety &

Online Technologies produced by The Internet Safety Technical Task Forces (ISTTF; Schrock &

Boyd, 2008). The report generated from several studies focused on the dangers of children using

social media. The report provides data from multiple studies and provides strong evidence for

the need of a strong digital citizenship program in schools. The third governmental study listed

in the review for literature is Risks and Safety on the Internet produced by the London School of

Economics (LSE; Livingstone et al., 2011). The study reported the risky behaviors of 9-16 year

olds in 25 European countries. The study went further to emphasize the need of a multifaceted,

holistic resolution to the global problem of risky online behavior in children. These studies

detail the growing, global problem of risky online behavior in children (Lyons, p.24).

Methodology
 Research Issues in IT Summary Two 3

The research question of the study was is there a relationship between grade level and

gender and the misuse of technology based on survey data collected from a student population

(Lyons, p.54). The type of study conducted was a quantitative approach which used surveys to

measure the online behaviors of a sample of children in a school district. The researcher was

following the postpositivist paradigm technique. The goal of the study is to develop acausal-

comparative relationship between grade level and gender and the misuse of technology (Lyons,

p. 55). The study called for collection of data from 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grade students from a

school district in California. The study called for an ex post facto non-experimental approach to

analyze historical data collect about student online behavior. (Lyons, p. 55). Data was collected

from school district Internet use surveys and the California Healthy Kids Survey or (CHKS).

The independent variables were grade and gender, while the dependable variable student online

behavior was divided into four types: (a) Personal Safety, (b) Digital Citizenship, (c) Parental

Involvement, and (d) Cyberbullying (Lyons, p. 59). The results of the study were obtained by

using the Kuder-Richardson Coefficient of reliability (KR-20) (Lyons p.74) to measure

significance of the independent variable. Using the KR-20 instrument, the following scores were

created: .75 personal safety, .73 digital citizenship, and .65 for parent involvement. The study

revealed that there is causality between gender and online behavior and a causality between

grade level and online behavior. The study shows that there is more risk for boys than girls. The

study also showed that the risk increased as they became older (Lyons, p. 76).

In analyzing the methodology of the study, the first item that grabbed my attention was

the lack of a current data sampling. The study would have more merit if the researcher had

developed their own survey and administered to a group students over an extended period of

time such as three times over the span of school year. Using historical data from previous
 Research Issues in IT Summary Two 4

surveys reduces the ability of the study to measure current trends in student behavior. With the

rapid changing, digital world, current data becomes imperative to developing instruments and

programs that help guide student online behavior. A classic example of this happened to me

earlier this year, when I taught a class on the importance of ones digital footprint. I focused my

discussion lesson on social media sites such as Facebook. The students quickly informed me

they dont use Facebook; they use Instagram instead.

 Research Issues in IT Summary Two 5

Reference List

Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method

approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Gorzig, A., & Olafsson, K. (2011). Risks and safety on the
Internet: The perspective of European children. Full Findings. LSE, London: EU
Kids Online. Retrieved from http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/
EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20Online%20reports.aspx

Lyons, R. (2012). Investigating student gender and grade level differences in digital citizenship
behavior (Order No. 3524065). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full
Text. (1038378905). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1038378905?
accountid=15017
Nigam, H., & Collier, A. (2010). Youth safety on a living Internet. Retrieved from
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/report/2010/youth-safety-living-internet

Schrock, A., & Boyd, D. (2008). Appendix C: Online threats to youth: Solicitation,
harassment, and problematic content. Retrieved from
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/isttf