Literacy and digital competence in Higher Education: A systematic review

Abstract

This article is a systematic review of literature in Spanish and Portuguese, from the period 2006-2018, focused on Higher Education. The aim is to understand the way in which the concepts of “digital literacy” and “digital competence” appear in studies originating in south-western Europe, based on the model used by Spante, Hashemi, Lundin and Lagers (2018) for “digital literacy” and “digital competence”. The review identifies the year of publication, countries of origin, purpose of the studies, type of article (theoretical or empirical studies) and level of analysis (macro-, meso- or micro-). To verify the use of the concepts, the following schema is adapted and applied: (1) used without definition, (2) defined by reference of a political nature, (3) defined with reference to the research and to policy, (4) defined according to the research, (5) defined through discussion and / or development of the concepts. This gives an overview of the patterns in this context. We opted for a free to access database with wide Hispanic coverage (Dialnet), finding for the most part articles of Spanish origin and of an empirical nature. They predominantly feature work focused on educational changes, at micro level, with reference to the concepts of literacy and digital competence, within the framework of higher education, without presenting substantive definitions. In addition, the absence of a framework definition of the concepts of literacy and competence often leads to ambiguity, theoretical and practical inconsistency, as well as superficiality in the use of the concepts.

Keywords

• competencia digital
• alfabetización digital
• alfabetización informacional
• educación superior
• revisión sistemática
• tratamiento de la información documental