Tracing research trends of 21st‐century learning skills

Abstract

Recently, learning technologies have become a pivotal constituent of teaching–learning processes. Contemporary studies indicate that in order to effectively utilize these technologies, instructors and learners alike must master a range of cognitive and socio‐emotional competencies, commonly termed “digital literacy competencies” or “21st century skills.” This study employs a content analysis methodology to trace trends of change in the research of core digital literacy competencies as reflected in the educational academic literature of the past 37 years (1980–2016). Based on well‐established frameworks of digital literacy competencies, this research examined seven skills: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical thinking, Information literacy, Problem‐solving and Socio‐emotional skills. Data were collected through advanced search queries of peer‐reviewed publications in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. Findings reveal that among the examined terms, Communication is the most prominent digital literacy skill, followed by Problem Solving and Collaboration. Furthermore, within the context of Skills, the most prominent terms are Information Literacy and Critical thinking; Technology and Collaboration are least mentioned. Our findings suggest that awareness of digital learning competencies in educational research literature is marginal, implying that educational research seems to lag behind the need to understand the ever‐changing digital competencies that instructors and learners need.

An assessment of the interplay between literacy and digital Technology in Higher Education

“…The assessment of the developed model was then conducted using PLS-SEM. The research conducted in this paper could be considered a response to Silber-Varod et al (2019), who stated that despite the importance of digital skills for effective learning in educational settings, research literature in this domain is marginal.…”

Using Problem-Based Learning to Enhance Mathematical Abilities of Primary School Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The rapid development of technology and science and the growing challenges in the 21 stcentury requires that each individual develop their ability to adapt to various conditions that arise. In line with that, the ability to think critically and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration are adaptive skills that are needed by each individual (Sanabria & Arámburo-Lizárraga, 2017;Silber-Varod et al, 2019;Voogt & Roblin, 2012). The process that students go through will build their mindset as critical and creative individuals and solve real problems.…”

Lifelong learning and the Internet: Who benefits most from learning online?

“…Although the OxIS data set is likely the best available to examine trends of lifelong learning and Internet use in Britain, we are restricted by the items that are in the survey. In future work, improved measures of digital skills (Silber‐Varod, Eshet‐Alkalai, & Geri, 2019), a broader array of measures to capture how people might learn via the Internet that capture an array of formal and informal opportunities (Peters & Romero, 2019; Sangrà, Raffaghelli, & Veletsianos, 2019) and how technologies can be used to promote lifelong learning skills such as reflection and self‐regulation (Kay & Kummerfeld, 2019); and more sophisticated measures of the outcomes from learning that people can achieve (OECD, 2010; van Deursen and Helsper, 2015) would all be valuable.…”