The Development of Digital Competencies and Digital Literacy in the 21st Century: A Survey of Studies

Abstract

The development of digital competencies and digital literacy in the 21st century is one of the most urgent in the theory and practice of modern education. The need for an understanding of the analysis of scientific knowledge on this issue is confirmed by the high demand for digital competencies of specialists in the labor market. The paper organizes and presents publication trends in the field of human digital abilities, with an emphasis on in-depth study of topics in higher education. Reviews and analytical work were carried out using the Web of Science, Google Scholar, RSCI (eLibrary). The analysis was based on the 120 most cited publications for the period from 2000 to 2020 and this article provides a final overview of 55 articles. The results are presented in visual-graphic form. In particular, the concepts related to digital abilities used in scientific everyday life are presented in the form of a pyramid of concepts: from the basic concept of ‘digital skills’ to the broadest meaning of the concept of ‘digital literacy.’ The word cloud reflects the most frequently used words in scientific works describing human abilities in the digital sphere. The article presents a graphical visualization of the factors influencing the formation and development of digital literacy and digital competencies of university students. The results obtained will be of interest to researchers of digital literacy and digital competencies, teachers, and university leaders in the implementation of educational programs.