Digital Literacy of Rural High School Learners and Educators: A Systematic Literature Review

This paper reviews literature on digital literacy among rural high school learners and educators. The following types of literature were reviewed: digital literacy programmes offered at rural high schools; digital literacy competencies of learners and educators from rural high schools; and the challenges confronted by rural high school learners and educators relating to digital literacy education. The data were obtained by searching for published articles published between 2018 and 2023 and indexed by the Scopus and LISTA databases. Digital literacy of high school learners and educators, digital literacy education, and digital literacy programmes for learners in high schools were the search terms used. The PRISMA reporting guidelines were followed. The study revealed that digital literacy programmes are frequently delivered in small groups by a facilitator who follows a predesigned curriculum and focuses on a particular subject or area of interest like teaching learners to use computers and smartphones to access information. In addition, the results suggest that educators are unable to adequately teach digital literacy since their own functional abilities are not as innovative as those of their learners. Moreover, it was evident from the data that the biggest challenge in integrating technology into classrooms was a lack of computer resources. The study recommends relevant measures by the government and school organisations to ensure that educators and learners are equipped with the skills that are needed to be able to use digital tools. Moreover, this review contributes to profiling existing research on the library and information science (LIS) curriculum and the methodological background on the digital literacy of rural high schools across Africa.