Integrating Digital Competence in Higher Education Curricula: An Institutional Analysis

Abstract

Digital competence is key for students in the 21st century. The present study analyses the extent to which digital competence has been integrated at a Catalan university with 11,362 undergraduate students. To obtain the data, we: (1) analysed the digital competence content in the curricula of 40 bachelor’s degrees; and (2) had the results checked by an 11-expert focus group. We found that the more technical degrees have the most integrated indicators of technological literacy while the other knowledge areas have a higher level of information literacy. Educational institutions therefore need to help students develop this competence which is so necessary for 21st-century students. This study reports interesting results on the presence of digital competence in the curricula of an entire institution and can be useful for improving the institution as a whole and the curricula.

Keywords

• digital competence
• higher education
• curricula
• content analysis