Gamification as a methodology to enhance analytical and sustainable engagement on Social Media

This study aims to determine whether positioning students as developers of educational software enhances their digital literacy, presenting an avenue to cultivate critical online content consumption and, in turn, combat misinformation. A total of 107 students, prospective educators in early childhood, primary, and social education contexts, participated in the research. Our initial hypothesis posited that introducing a technology training program would significantly bolster the ability to discern hoaxes and falsehoods online. However, a chi-square test significance result of 0.607 suggests acceptance of the null hypothesis. The findings underscore a notable deficiency in students' ability to solve practical problems, evident from the lack of responses to items categorized under intuition and practical reasoning. Nonetheless, according to the standards set by DigiComp, students can achieve a commendable proficiency in digital competency, particularly in evaluating digital data and information, as well as in creating digital content.