Work in Progress

Nikou, S., De Reuver, M., & Mahboob Kanafi, M. (2022). Workplace literacy skills—How information and digital literacy affect adoption of digital technology. Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 371–391. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2021-0241

The authors studied how employees’ information literacy (IL) and digital literacy (DL) may affect employees’ willingness to use technology in the workplace. Unlike direct use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), they included employees’ IL and DL as factors in the TAM. They surveyed employees from various industries in Finland and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. The authors found IL and DL were positively related to employees’ perceptions of technology as easy to use in the workplace; however, they did not directly affect employees’ perceptions of technology’s usefulness. Instead, IL and DL affected employees’ willingness to use technology because ease of use affected employees’ attitudes, and their attitudes influenced their intention to use it.

The study addresses a practical workplace issue and includes employees from different industries. The authors used a survey, tested with experts from industry and academia, and used measures established in previous studies. The self-reported survey data came from a small number of employees, most of whom had high literacy levels. Therefore, the findings may not generalize to all employees with different literacy levels in using technology. The survey cannot conclude causal relationships.

I am interested in whether these findings apply to printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) manufacturing and technical training. In PCBA work, employees use digital instructions and digital inspection systems. Employees also need to understand information, recognize problems, and report problems. A learning management system and training activities can help employees use digital tools and evaluate and respond to the information that they provide. It would be useful to study how workplace literacy training helps adult workers learn new technologies and use them at work.