Htqe.2023.36

https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2023.36 | 463-479 | PDF

Factors influencing Digital Competence of Higher Education Students: a Scoping Review

Sanita Litiņa, Anika Miltuze
University of Latvia, Latvia

Abstract. In today’s society, digital competence is becoming increasingly relevant and important for functioning personally and professionally. Twenty-first-century students need competencies to adapt to a new type of individual information and individual-knowledge relationship, therefore, the education system should contemplate new ways for students’ development in this so-called information and knowledge society. The purpose of the present scoping review is to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant research regarding factors influencing the digital competence of higher education students. Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework underpins the scoping review. Four databases were used to conduct the scoping literature review, including the EBSCOhost, Science Direct, Web of Science and Scopus. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed publications written in English from 2016–2022. Initially, 270 articles were found; the full texts of 67 articles were assessed; finally, 23 articles that met the inclusion criteria were included in the present research. This paper reports on three main categories: (1) characteristics of digital competence influencing factors, (2) digital competence measurement instrument, and (3) key findings. The study has identified the influencing factors of digital competence among university and college students, including socio-economic background, motivational belief strategies, attitudes towards ICTs, prior training on ICTs, digital citizenship skills, learning strategies, academic performance, study specialization, form and level. The study provides insights to improve students’ digital competence education in universities. Future research should focus on interviewing students and educators to understand their perspectives on factors influencing digital competence.

Keywords: influencing factors, digital literacy, digital competence, university students, higher education

This article is developed in the frame of the project “Strengthening the LU doctoral capacity within the framework of the new doctoral model” 8.2.2.0/20/I/006 (ESS2021/434).

In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2023. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2023. Rakstu krājums
Riga, University of Latvia, 2023. 796 p. Ed. L. Daniela
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2023
ISBN 978-9934-36-116-6