Developing Digital Skills and Competences: A Quick-Scan Analysis of 13 Digital Literacy Models

The development of digital literacy has become a key element on the agenda of scholars, practitioners and policymakers worldwide. To this end, actors in the field often make use of conceptual models on digital literacy. As these models inevitably play a role in shaping the public debate on digital literacy, it is important to gain insights into the concepts and ideas they put forward. This article aims to: (1) unravel the complexity and diversity of concepts regarding digital skills, literacies and competences; (2) identify the concepts promoted in 13 selected models on digital literacy; and subsequently (3) analyse the concepts that shape and/or dominate the scholarly and public debate on digital literacy. The results of this article are based on a literature review and quick-scan analysis of 13 digital literacy models that have been published and used by actors in the field between 2004-2014. The frameworks were mapped in a matrix and compared on the basis of 39 indicators, clustered in five categories: operational, technical and formal; information, cognition; digital communication; digital content creation; and strategic. The results of the analysis point towards an unbalanced focus on certain skills and competences, with particular emphasis on a series of operational, information-searching, and communication skills