Digital literacy in school education: A qualitative systematic review

Abstract

In the context of global digital transformation, countries are adapting school curricula and improving students' digital literacy. Together with students' active engagement in digital environments, these findings support the growing role of digital literacy. Although the integration of digital literacy into school curricula is widely acknowledged, there is a lack of consensus regarding the definitions and implementations of the concept. Additionally, there is limited research on the concept of digital literacy in the context of general school education. This qualitative systematic review primarily aims to address this lack of clarity by analysing two questions: (1) how is the concept of digital literacy defined and applied in the research literature within the context of general school education, and (2) what underlying reasons contribute to its diverse interpretations? A review of scientific articles on the practical implementation of digital literacy was conducted, utilising the following databases: EBSCOhost, Scopus, and Web of Science. Sixteen articles that met the search criteria were analysed and conceptualised. The first research question was answered by identifying and formulating eight conceptual categories of digital literacy within general school education: digital tools, ethics, pedagogy, information, cognitive domain, emotional domain, social domain, and individual domain. The second research question was answered as follows: context dependence and various perspectives were proposed as potential causes for the diversity of definitions. The findings of this study clari fy the concept of digital literacy by enriching existing frameworks with new, significant categories, thereby supporting its integration into general school education. Additionally, it contributes to the ongoing discourse on digital literacy in school education and highlights the need for future research to explore its application across various educational subjects.