Digital Competence of Higher Education Learners in the Context of COVID-19 Triggered Online Learning

The spread of COVID-19 caused wide scale disruptions in the educational sector across the globe. Digital education involving use of digital tools, virtual platforms and online learning is viewed as one of the viable alternatives to continue the academic activities in such a backdrop. Higher education institutions have largely switched to this new mode of learning and are still continuing with the digital mode in many parts of the world, owing to the enduring pandemic threat. However, competence of the learners to engage effectively in the online classes and the influence of their socio-economic background on this competence were not given adequate consideration. The present study was an effort to glean into these aspects as they are crucial to the success of digital education. The study was conducted 833 students comprising of graduate, post graduate and Ph.D. students of an Agricultural University to assess their digital competencies and factors affecting an effective participation in online classes. The Digital Competence Framework 2.0 of EU Science Hub (DIGCOMP) was adapted and used for this study. Our findings suggest that the learners have a satisfactory level of competence in most of the aspects of digital competence. The results of a Tukey difference in the mean test reveals that digital competence among the learners vary significantly based on their gender, economic profile and academic level. This finding can be attributed to the difference in their socio- economic background, which confirms digital divide among learners. Our findings have implications for the design of policies for digital higher education and institutional management for ensuring effective learner participation particularly for the higher education institutions in developing countries