Digital competence at the beginning of upper secondary school: Identifying factors explaining digital inclusion

During the last decade, information and communication technology has been given an increasingly large importance in our society. There seems to be a consensus regarding the necessity of supporting and developing school-based digital competence. In order to sustain digital inclusion, schools need to identify digital deficiencies and digital achievements. The concept of digital competence is scrutinized and discussed. This paper presents a research study including 4087 students from 24 upper secondary schools. The aim of the study was to scrutinize factors predicting students' digital competence, here operationalised as Digital judgements, To acquire and process digital information and To produce digital information. Analysis revealed substantial variation in digital competence between schools and within schools. The conditions at home, i.e. language integration and cultural capital, together with mastery orientation and academic aspirations did predict digital competence, and explained a substantial share of the total variation in digital competence. There are differences in what students mastered with ICT, and therefore, the students have various requirements. Further, the students attend heterogenic schools facing different kinds of challenges. Hopefully, the schools and teachers are willing to use the results from the test, and moreover, the test results can contribute to needs-based interventions and follow-ups.

► A test to identify digital competence according to curriculum.
► Analysis reveals differences in digital competence within and between schools.
►  Students, classes and schools have different requirements and needs.
► Cultural capital and language integration had a positive effect on digital competence.
► Academic aspirations and mastery orientation had a positive prediction of digital competence.