Digital Competence in Higher Education: Students’ Perception and Personal Factors

University students are expected to have the appropriate digital competence to face the demands of the changing educational model and to meet the challenges of the future work. This paper describes university students’ perceptions of digital competence and analyzes the impact of personal factors on digital competence in a sample of 5164 students from all majors in the first and fourth year of their studies at Gansu Agricultural University (China). A quantitative methodology was followed, employing a non-experimental method and the survey technique to collect data. The results obtained show that students’ perceptions of digital competencies in terms of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, and safety were positive. Furthermore, there were significant differences in students’ self-perceptions of digital competence related to gender, grade level, area of residence, and prior relevant training in the DigComp framework-based instrument. The development of key competency areas for digital competence, such as the creation of digital content, should be promoted, along with helping students to gain knowledge when dealing with everyday technological issues. The need for training related to the use of ICT and digital competencies was also highlighted, as well as supporting the promotion of female students in selected areas of digital competence and assisting lower grade students and students from rural areas in digital competence development.

The Impact of Gender and Years of Teaching Experience on College Teachers’ Digital Competence: An Empirical Study on Teachers in Gansu Agricultural University

With the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the emergence of the Corona virus (COVID-19,) our way of life and even our education have been affected. The education approach has changed from traditional tutorials to online education. As a result, it has been a necessary for not only students but also teachers to improve their digital competence. The aim of this study was to describe in-service teachers’ self-perceptions of digital competence in the context of higher education and analyze the impact of gender and years of teaching experience on college teachers’ digital competence. For this purpose, a quantitative methodology has been used. A sample of 536 in-service teachers from Gansu Agricultural University, China, completed a questionnaire on digital competence. The data were collected in the academic year of 2019–2020. The results show that the sample considered themselves positively in information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, security and problem solving, while they self-evaluated their digital content creation negatively. Regarding the variables studied, significant differences were found in favor of male college teachers in the perception of digital competence. In relation to the teaching experience, teachers with less teaching experience thought themselves better in the areas of communication and collaboration, digital content creation, security and problem solving.

Digital competence in higher education research: A systematic literature review.

In the information and knowledge society, where technology develops rapidly and penetrates deeply into our lives, the discussion about digital competence has become a hot topic today. After the emergence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) and with its huge impact on the education industry, the concern about digital competence has reached a new height. This systematic literature review uses Web of science and Scopus as databases to store and analyze the existing research on digital competence in higher education settings. The purpose of this review is to provide the scholar community with a current overview of digital competence research from 2015 to 2021 in the context of higher education regarding the definition of digital competence, dimensions used to evaluate digital competence, research purposes, methodologies, and results and limitations. Major findings include that the majority of publications cited both research and EU policy in describing the definition of digital competence. The review indicates that most university students and teachers have a basic level of digital competence. Besides, the institutions of higher education are encouraged to focus on the development students and teachers' digital competence, create relevant learning strategies and use appropriate tools to improve the quality of education.