Information and Media Literacy of K to 12 and Non-K to 12 Graduates

Abstract

This study aimed to find out the information and media literacy of K to 12 and n0n-K to 12 graduates in Northern Philippines. The researcher used the mixed methods research design to determine the social media usage and function among students. Students in private and public higher education institutions in the Province of Cagayan, Philippines are not yet very much engaged to social media considering their low social media utilization. They too, have not met the standard learning competencies prescribed in the Curriculum Guide for Media and Information Literacy subject. Interestingly, it shows that the information and media literacy of students varies in terms of sex, basic education preparation, senior high school (SHS) track, and department affiliation but not for religion and ethnicity, and academic strand. It is reflected in the data that female students has higher mean percentage than male students. In addition, The study revealed that the parents’ income and age of the respondents have a significant association with their information and media literacy. The younger respondents tend to have higher information and media literacy while students who were enrolled in SEASH has higher information and media literacy than their counterpart, i.e., those who were enrolled in CBEA, CAHS, CTE, SEAIDITE, SABH, and CHM. It is recommended that there is a need to enhance the information and media literacy of SHS and College students, DICT, CHED and DepEd should strengthen their collaboration relative to the nationwide implementation of the free WiFi school zone projects and conduct a regional follow-up research to track the development of students' Information and Media Literacy at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.