Measurement of the knowledge, skills and attitudes of students of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz in the field of safe use of the Internet

Abstract

The article discusses the competences of students of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz on the topic of safe usage of the Internet. The goal of the research was to recognise, analyse and measure the knowledge, skills and attitudes of students, within the safe consumption of content posted and faced on the Internet every day, as well as other facets related to challenges of cyberspace. Attention was also paid to the potential of competences related to information and digital skills which should not be lacking, especially (but not only) by students of the university. Therefore, the key values would be: continuous development of those skills, gaining knowledge and awareness of potential dangers.

The following research methods were used to achieve set goals: critical analysis of the literature, the bibliographic method and the method of diagnostic survey. To understand the essence of the issue and to delve into the subject of online security, it was necessary to address definitions of “cyberspace”, “cybersecurity”, “digital competences” and “information literacy” as well as characterize selected threats to online security, which was done by review of literature.

In the methodological part, the subject of the research, goals and research issues was pointed out, the principles of the sampling were defined and research methods, techniques and tools were described. The research part is an analysis of the results of the survey conducted on students of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz.

The survey was conducted on a group of students and is now able to determine the difficult that would arise from using the Internet, in addition students of the Faculty of Philology were experiencing most frequently what threats they were most afraid to encounter and how students protect their privacy, resources and image on the Internet, from what sources they learn about cybersecurity and how they asses their own competences in this area. The analysis shows that most of the respondents have basic knowledge necessary for responsible usage of Internet resources, as well as abilities to use tools that enable better protection in digital space. However, further research in this direction is recommended.