Self-assessment of Student Digital Competences in Serbia

Abstract

The updated Digital Competence Framework, DigComp 2.0, defines five key areas of digital competences that every citizen needs to be able to use ICT in a critical, creative and collaborative manner for business, learning, entertainment, inclusion or social participation. This paper examines digital competences of students in Serbia, and the general aim of the research is to determine how students in Serbia self-assess their digital competences, whether their self-assessment is determined by specific socio demographic characteristics, such as: university, field of study, year of study, frequency of use of ICT devices in teaching, and everyday activities. Two research instruments were created for the purposes of this research: Questionnaire on Socio-demographic Characteristics, and Digital Competence Assessment Scale, which is based on the European Digital Competence Framework – DigComp 2.0. Students from 22 faculties (N=183) from four administrative districts in Serbia (Moravica, Zlatibor, Južna Bačka and the City of Belgrade District) participated in the research. The research determined that students assess their digital competences as highly developed, both in relation to the scale and its integral subscales, and confirmed that there are significant differences in student self-assessments with regard to independent research variables: university and frequency of use of technical devices (smartphones) in teaching and everyday activities.