The 21^st century learners are currently faced with the threat of the global COVID-19 pandemic where it requires the closing of both public and private establishments like schools. From the traditional face-to-face mode of learning, the sector of education and its learners necessitated to move abruptly to online education. However, this transition in education may create varying levels to student's competency and proficiency since online learning environment is not accessible in isolated areas. Likewise, many of the educators are not well-versed in technology despite having the best intentions to provide alternative learning experiences amidst the pandemic. This is due to the reason that teaching staff themselves felt not equipped to teach via online and still learning to use digital platforms (Jaques & Salmon, 2007; Little-Wiles & Naimi, 2011; Rucker & Downey, 2016; Schmidt et al., 2016; Thorsteinsson, 2013). Hence in this case, it poses a multitude of challenges in both teaching and learning (Buchholz et al., 2020).

For this reason, the demand for Education 4.0 is believed to respond to the onset of this crisis. Founded on this concept, learners are expected to be digitally literate since Education 4.0 promotes novel ways of learning that focuses on collaboration of men and machines (Atkinson, 2018; Baterna et al., 2020).

Digital literacy is grounded on the explanation of second divide whereas it is found as an effective tool to describe and measure the type of skills in which particular groups of people differ as a function of specific structural and contextual variables (Sáinz et al., 2008). In like manner, the concept of being digitally literate refers to the differences in people's online skills as the second digital divide (Hargittai, 2002; Sáinz et al., 2008). In a pilot project conducted by Good Things Foundation on digital literacy in the Philippines last 2016, it showed that there are 63 millions of Filipinos who lack basic digital skills despite it being an expected skill in the progressing digital divide. As a solution, the foundation launched a platform called ‘Learn My Way’ which contains free courses that will help Filipinos to learn basic digital skills. However, there are no further plans made after the pilot testing of the said project. Furthermore, a research conducted in Chile shows 36.79% of digital illiterates, which is observed at the level of ignorance of new technologies like browsing basic information on the net (Vargas & Castro, 2020). Even Japan that is known to be digitally-wired country find its youth's digital literacy to be left behind among other countries (MEXT, 2011, as cited by Baterna et al., 2020). According to Loveless (2020), digital literacy should be an essential part of curriculum since technology has altered the way children learn, thus K-12 should embrace this advent in technologies.

In 2019, the Department of Education launched formally the integration of digital literacy into K-12 curriculum (Mateo, 2019). The senior high school under the K to 12 program takes several subjects that is focused in the integration of digital literacy skills. The Media and Information Literacy under the core subjects and the applied subject which is Empowerment Technologies taken for a semester further develop learner's digital literacy (Commission on Higher Education, 2016). With these things mentioned above, this research will aim to know the readiness of the learners in taking online education through their learning from the subjects that enhance their digital literacy.

Furthermore, the study focused on measuring the digital literacy among the senior high school students as the participants were gathered through voluntary and purposive sampling. The respondents of this study were 208 senior high school students (SHS) who were enrolled during the school year 2019-2020 in different basic educational institutions in the region of Cavite. Various tracks and strands of the students including the Academic (STEM, HumSS, ABM and GAS) and Technical-Vocation Track (TVL) were considered in the study together with their gender (male and female) as respondents' profile variables. The digital literacy focused on the various aspects in the utilization of media for online education. On the other hand, the study will be limited to the selected participants, time frame and study site, and the methodological framework used includes the instrument which is appropriate in the Philippine context.

1.1 Field-based Digital Literacy

Perdana et al. (2019) explained that in the present time digital literacy becomes a dynamic concern. The study aimed at investigating students' digital literacy skills of 193 science students in Yogyakarta's senior high school. According to the results, the students were lacking in the level of their digital literacy skill while there was a significant difference in students' digital literacy skills based on their educational level. The study concluded that due to deficiency in the digital skills of the students, a learning model was suggested to enhance these skills. In the Philippines, the UNESCO's Media and Information Literacy (MIL) has been integrated in the basic, higher and distance education which means that both conventional and nonconventional education benefits from it, though it was unsuccessful to be integrated into the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the country (Lacerna, 2015).

Similarly, Lorenzo (2016) evaluated the iSchools Project implemented in the public high schools of Tarlac Province, Philippines. Findings showed that the project in general was effective in integrating ICT in education and became a bridge between the digital skills among teachers even though they encountered problems during project implementation.

Likewise, Bahian and Sari (2017) thought that computer literacy on information communication technology (ICT) can positively impact the society and support the economic development as part of its integration to the K- 12 program curriculum in the Philippines. To re imagine this, they have presented an agent-based model on the spread of computer software literacy among education students in Leyte province.

Baterna et al. (2020) discussed that in today's digital world and in the fourth industrial revolution (FIRe) digital literacy encourages students' competitiveness and gives improved opportunities. In relation to that, they conducted a study on the digital literacy of 130 STEM students in Zambales, Philippines in terms of access and evaluation of information; utilization and management of information; media analysis; creation of media products; effective application of technology; and interaction through technology. Results revealed that STEM students were digitally literate to some extent. While when grouped according to sex and grade level, there was a significant difference in their extent of digital literacy.

When it comes to higher education, Adeoye and Adeoye (2017) reiterated that the impact of digital technology in the educational system cannot be over stressed as there were undergraduate students who hardly survived in the college without knowing its basic skills. In order for students to become part of digital environment and achieve their academic pursuits, digital literacy should become their composite skill. The study found that majority of the 595 undergraduate students in Nigeria claimed that they are confident of their information literacy skills by preventing plagiarism act, especially when they look for online resources.

Generally, with the improved occurrence of technology in today's world, the encouragement of technology and digital resources on students' literacy remains to be cultivated along. As there was a literature gap regarding high school students' literacy, particularly their digital literacy, a study was conducted which was followed by a recommendation for increased use of literacy texts and digital technologies in and out of classrooms (Wilson et al., 2015).

1.2 Digital Literacy in Terms of Gender

Gender studies have shown various results pertaining to the digital literacy levels. These outcomes have filled the literature gap and opened opportunities for validation and improvement through future studies. Aitokhuehi and Ojogho (2014) examined the academic performance as affected by digital learning of 120 final year students in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Results showed that in relation to gender, the computer literate female students perform better than male students who are also computer literate, while the computer literate students in co-educational secondary schools perform slightly better than those in single sex schools.

In contrast, Argelagós and Pifarré (2017) show that gender has no significant differences in the digital attainment by analyzing 40 secondary students (18 females and 22 males) to solve a scholarly task using web information. Though the study shows that participants digital literacy was low, it has no direct relation to their gender. Same with this thought, the study conducted by Nasah et al., (2010) suggests that students' use of information and communication technology (ICT) is inclined more on their digital literacy rather than their generational trait (age, gender and socioeconomic status). The socioeconomic status shows as the closest factor why students use ICT but gender and age has no relation at all.

1.3 Pedagogical Approach to Assess Digital Literacy

ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries are not different from one another when it comes to digital literacy levels, as the world enters into the 4.0 revolution. It was ranked by mean rank from 1 to 8 whose order is Singapore (24.6), Thailand (24.0), Indonesia (20,5), Vietnam (20.4), Myanmar (19, 90), Philippines (19.80), Malaysia (19.20) and Cambodia (15.6). This means that the ASEAN countries have the capacity to generate digital contents to accept new technology, to accomplish media information, and to assume technology in certain circumstances (Kusumastuti & Nuryani, 2020).

Anjaiah (2016) mentioned that digital literacy (DL) is the course of teaching and learning about technology and its applications. Requiring both cognitive and technical skills, it is the capacity to use evidence and communication technologies to discover, assess, generate and connect information. When it is accessible via computers, it is also the ability to comprehend and utilize information in various formats from multiple sources. Likewise, digital literacy comprises a variety of capacities from basic computing skills to the formation of multimodal texts. It is also a way for young generations to express themselves using their own online literacy. It is important for educators to correlate students' digital literacy behaviours in their personal lives to instructional activities in school (Blummer, 2008).

Students should master their technology skills in order to fully utilize their digital literacy. It is a positive note that educational sectors worldwide started to integrate digital literacy into the curriculum. One of the possible classroom activities is digital storytelling to help involve and encourage students to acquire digital literacy skills. With the application of social media and online surfing, students can increase their knowledge practice through enhancement of communication skills without becoming bored as they express their ideas effectively (Saubari & Baharuddin, 2016; Bahian & Sari, 2017).

Additionally, Shopova (2014) clarified that it is vital to develop the literacy level and digital competence of students to improve the efficiency of the learning process and for them to adapt to the dynamically shifting labour market. The utilization of ICT by students is thought of as an empirical component of the learning process. Through this, their motivation is established not only to raise their academic performance, but also to become successful in society with varying demand of work and life.

On the other hand, Spengler (2015) illustrated that the understanding and utilization of information, media and technology has been the expansions of the concept of literacy. They studied this concern by developing a project study to address the lack of technology requirement in a rural public-school district in North Eastern Pennsylvania to meet the needs of 21^st century learners and the condition of the Children's Internet Protection Act. The themes that emerged in this qualitative study were related to a digital literacy course framework such as information access skills and application of technology. More importantly, this project will positively contribute to the social change through a modern definition of literacy.

Above all these, digital literacy for learning is more than just knowing how to operate technology; it is also having the right information management and critical thinking skills, as well as proper online behaviour (Tang & Chaw, 2016). Though there are indeed difficulties in using technology, it would be still constructive to understand if learners can make effective use of the technology for learning, since present time necessitates education beyond the physical classroom walls.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

This study generally aimed to analyze the readiness of Senior High School students for online education by evaluating the extent of their digital literacy based on their strands and gender. Specifically, this research sought to answer the: (i) demographic profile of SHS students based on gender and strands; (ii) SHS students' digital literacy in terms of access and evaluation of information, utilization and management of information, media analysis, creation of media products, effective application of technology and interaction through technologies; and (iii) measure the relationship and difference between the profile variables and digital literacy variables.

Descriptive and correlational quantitative designs were utilized in this study to achieve the objectives. The participants selected through voluntary and purposive sampling were 208 senior high school students (SHS) who were enrolled during the school year 2019-2020 in different basic education institutions in the region of Cavite. The data gathering was administered using an online survey platform wherein the respondents were informed of the purpose and benefits of the study together with the consent form before they proceed with the questions. The survey instrument, Digital Literacy Survey Questionnaire (DLSQ), was adapted from the study of Baterna et al. (2020) which was anchored from the P21 Partnership for 21^st Century Learning (2009) and Digital Competence Framework (Ferrari, 2012). Correspondingly, the survey tool has undergone a face validation by three experts in the fields of Media and Information Literacy and Education Technology subjects. The instrument is comprised of different questions to measure the extent of digital literacy among senior high school students in various domains. These questions were grouped into six domains such as: (1) Access and Evaluation of Information, (2) Utilization and Management of Information, (3) Media Analysis, (4) Creation of Media Products, (5) Effective Application of Technology, and (6) Interaction through Technologies. It also includes a rating scale (4 – Great Extent, 3 – Some Extent, 2 – Little Extent, 1 – Not at all) in order for the respondents to self-report the extent of their digital literacy. Moreover, the responses were easily retrieved using an online survey platform and analysed using statistical software to obtain the descriptive data (mean, frequency and percentage), statistical difference in terms of p-value and correlation coefficients. The research data were summarized and presented in different tables according to the research objectives.

It is the main objective of the study to determine the difference between the digital literacy based on demographic profile variables including sex, track/strand and grade level, and the relationship between and within the domains of digital literacy of senior high school students in the Philippines.

Table 1 shows the summary of the demographic profile of respondents in terms of sex, age, track or strand, and grade level. As shown in Table 1, majority of the respondents were female (n=136) which is equivalent to 65.4% of the entire study sample. Most of the respondents were 17 years old (n=86) while there were some under 15 years and above 20 years. In terms of grade level, 173 of them were grade 12 which is equal to 83% of the entire sample. Lastly, there were 104 STEM students and 104 non-STEM students who participated in the study. The strands under the academic track of senior high school program are Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM), General Academic Strand (GAS), Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). On the other hand, the Technical-Vocational Livelihood (TVL) is another senior high school program track wherein other participants do belong. In general, the respondents' profile is dominated by females, 17 years in age, grade 12, and STEM strand.

Table 1. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

It is significant to measure the digital literacy of the students as basis for readiness in the rapid transition to online learning that was brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Table 2 shows that the effective application of technology domain obtained the highest mean (M=3.48) which indicates that the respondents use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information in science to some extent. All the other domains attained the means equivalent to the verbal description of some extent also with the utilization and management of information domain ranked as least. This implies that the respondents use information accurately and creatively for the current issues and problems in science at some extent. These results are relevant in the current education system as most of the learners today are exposed to digital information which they utilize for academic and personal matters. In connection, this supports the study of Anjaiah (2016) wherein the understanding of digital literacy is validated through its application that comes from both cognitive and technical skills. Also, effective application of technology domain propped up Blummer (2008) statement that digital literacy is evident on how an individual express himself/herself.

Table 2. Extent of Digital Literacy of Senior High School Students

As shown in Table 3, female and male students agreed with effective application of technology domain having the highest means of 3.55 and 3.36, respectively. These results explained that the students are aware of cultural diversity aspects to be able to protect themselves and others from possible online dangers (e.g. cyber bullying, cybersex, etc.). They also agreed with utilization and management of information having the least means but still described to some extent together with the other domains. Based on the statistical test, there are significant differences in the extent of digital literacy domains namely Media Analysis, Effective Application of Technology, and Interaction through Technologies among the students in terms of sex. In contrast, results found no significant differences in the other domains. Female students also reported higher mean scores than male students in all domains. Based on these results, it connotes the same idea with Aitokhuehi and Ojogho's (2014) study that even though both gender show to be digitally literate, females are more ahead than men. On the other hand, this result opposed Argelagós and Pifarré (2017) that demographic profile such as gender has no direct relation but socioeconomic status to digital literacy.

Table 3. Significant difference between the Digital Literacy of Senior High School Students in Terms of Sex

Based on the results presented in Table 4, both the STEM and non-STEM students have the highest means in the Effective Application of Technology domain which explains that they apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical and legal issues surrounding the effective application of technologies. Non-STEM students reported the lowest mean in the three domains including the Access and Evaluation of Information that is the same with the STEM students' report, Utilization and Management of Information, and Creation of Media Products. Meanwhile, there are no significant differences in the extent of digital literacy of the STEM and non-STEM students across all six domains as shown by the p-values. On this note, strands have no direct relationship with the digital literacy skills. Likewise, the study of Adeoye and Adeoye (2017) wherein results showed that freshman undergraduate students have higher digital literacy skills on effective application of technology specifically in preventing plagiarism act especially when they look for online resources.

Table 4. Significant difference between the Digital Literacy of SHS Students in Terms of Strands/Tracks (STEM and Non-STEM)

In terms of grade level, Table 5 confirms that both grades 11 and 12 reported the highest means in the domain, Effective Application of Technology. It proves that they use digital technologies (computers, media players, GPS, etc.), communication tools and social network appropriately to process science information for the benefit of society. Grade 11 students reported the least mean in the Access and Evaluation of Information domain which indicates that they evaluate scientific information critically and competently to some extent. On the contrary, grade 12 students agreed with the Utilization and Management of Information domain to have the least mean and clarifies that they manage the flow of scientific information from a wide variety of sources at some extent. More importantly, statistical results also found no significant differences in the extent of digital literacy of the grade 11 and 12 students across all domains based on the interpretations of the pvalues. It is also noted that grade 12 students enumerated higher mean scores than grade 11 in most of the domains.

Table 5. Significant difference between the Digital Literacy of SHS Students in Terms of Grade Level

When it comes to the relationships between and within the domains of digital literacy of students, Table 6 emphasized that moderate positive correlations among all domains are significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed). The highest correlation coefficient (r=0.724) was found between the domains of Access and Evaluation of Information and Utilization and Management of Information. It describes that as the students spread science-related news, content and resources proactively, they also manipulate and store scientific information and content for easier retrieval. Although, the relationship of two domains, Access and Evaluation of Information and Utilization and Interaction through Technologies, have the lower correlation value (r=0.467). This infers that while they access science information in credible website sources, they also know about citation practices and to integrate new information into an existing scientific body of knowledge.

Table 6. Relationships between and within the Domains of Digital Literacy of SHS Students

The correlation values highlight that the students do not focus only on one digital literacy domain, instead they showcase a digitally-literate behavior to some extent across all domains.

Education, despite the threat of COVID 19, continues for both learners and teachers. This “new normal” results to an accelerated change in the modes of delivering quality education, from the traditional face-to-face interaction down to online discussion. Thus, this study was made to analyse the readiness of senior high school students in adapting to online type of education since before the onset of this pandemic, there were subjects that taught learners the different concepts and skills related to digital world.

In a nutshell, the results showed that both grade 11 and 12 aged 17 years , and under STEM and non-STEM strands are somehow prepared in the online transition of education. This readiness was measured and analysed through the six domains that showed a degree of “some extent” in all domains. In addition, only the sex variable among the three profile variables (sex, grade level and strand) showed significant difference towards the domains of Media Analysis, Effective Application of Technology, and Interaction through Technologies, while both grade level and strand are not significantly different. Moreover, it should also be noted that even though sex has significant difference to three domains, the mean scores of female students in all domains are higher than that of the male students.

With this conclusion, the study recommends to have a focused and improved program that may help male students to cope with the demands of digital learning. Furthermore, they should have quality teaching-learning innovations in online education to promote the digital literacy of senior high school students especially the males through the development of enhancement curricula. Digital literacy across all subjects in senior high school should be integrated and enhanced especially in the conduct of online education in order to realize the learning competencies of each subject area with provided activities and assignments inclined towards the utilization of internet and online applications. Since that digital literacy is predominantly associated with subject areas like media, information literacy and empowerment technologies, the incorporation of different subjects' concepts with these areas can be done to serve as basis for the proposed integrative activities as students' assignments or at least for their culminating activity in each quarter. This will further improve the students' extent of digital literacy domains by learning and appreciating the use of online programs in accomplishing the given tasks. Lastly, the school teachers should be provided with opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills in managing their subjects online, including the appropriate understanding about the curriculum, instruction and assessment aspects.