Young university students in virtual environments: an exploratory study of the glocal generation of Honduras and Guatemala

Abstract

The objective of this article is to offer a sociodemographic panoramic of the use that university students make of virtual environments in the glocal context of Honduras and Guatemala. The research has an exploratory-descriptive scope, for the collection of information the survey technique was used in virtual format, with a convenience sample. Categorical indexes were elaborated to know the technological skills, network agency, local-global awareness, political activism and critical perspective of young university students. The results showed that digital literacy is widespread among young people but that it is not a sufficient condition to develop cooperative activities in virtual environments, which is the basis of the glocal generation; the other indices showed more conservative results, in some cases, with differences between countries and in others, coincidences in age and gender. We can conclude that the digital natives of the glocal generation have great skills in handling virtual tools, but it is important to encourage young university students to develop a democratic culture, as well as a greater critical-reflective perspective, a local-global awareness, cooperation, networking and communities both in everyday life and in virtual environments.