What we did

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs commissioned us to undertake research into how digital literacy programs delivered by local government or community groups contribute to the development of digital literacy in urban young people living in under-resourced communities. This included exploring how improving digital literacy supports young people to get work or volunteer, and access services that support improved wellbeing among youth.

How we did it

We reviewed various documents and carried out semi-structured interviews across eight community initiatives. The focus of interviews was on what the programs delivered, the benefits of attending, what factors enabled young people to become more digitally literate, barriers to digital literacy, and the digital literacy of organisations themselves. Based on thematic analysis, five key findings were identified including the use of multiple approaches to engage young people, a broad range of benefits were gained, and some initiatives were vulnerable to closure. These findings were tested in two sense-making sessions with young people.

Benefits for the client

The report has been published on the Department’s website; https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Digital-Literacy-and-Young-People/$file/Digital-Literacy-and-Young-People.pdf.