Three-year development of digital literacy among primary and secondary school students: the role of digital activity participation and demographic characteristics

Digital literacy is essential for youths’ learning, well-being, and societal engagement, yet its developmental trajectory and links to digital activities and student backgrounds remain understudied. This longitudinal study tracked digital literacy and digital activity among 248 primary school students (48.7% female) and 684 secondary school students (51.5% female) in Hong Kong. Participants were selected via stratified random sampling and completed a performance-based digital literacy assessment plus self-reported digital activities and demographics at two waves, two years apart. Findings indicated an overall improvement in both digital literacy and leisure digital activities for primary and secondary students. Parallel latent growth models identified distinct patterns: primary school students with lower initial digital literacy showed greater improvement, whereas secondary school students with higher initial skills made more substantial gains. Initial engagement in study-related digital activities negatively predicted digital literacy growth among primary students, while among secondary students, both leisure and study-related digital activities co-developed positively with digital literacy. Home resources were found to be marginally associated with improved digital literacy in primary school students. These findings reveal differentiated developmental pathways for digital literacy across age groups, underscoring the importance of longitudinal relationships between digital literacy, digital activity and student background.