Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19

Nowadays, with technology penetrating into every aspect of our life, the ways to acquire knowledge has been greatly revolutionized. The outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has accelerated digital informatization in education and the educational model has been transformed substantially. The demand...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu Zhao, María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez, Ana María Pinto-Llorente, Raúl Sánchez Prieto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1541475/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849392897349124096
author Yu Zhao
María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez
Ana María Pinto-Llorente
Raúl Sánchez Prieto
author_facet Yu Zhao
María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez
Ana María Pinto-Llorente
Raúl Sánchez Prieto
author_sort Yu Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Nowadays, with technology penetrating into every aspect of our life, the ways to acquire knowledge has been greatly revolutionized. The outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has accelerated digital informatization in education and the educational model has been transformed substantially. The demand for digital competence is at record high. The purpose of this study is to systematically explore digital competence in different national educational contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2021), to provide academics with the current state of digital competence in education and main research trends in digital competence in education during this period, elucidate the impact of pandemic on digital competence, and explore the limitations in the implementation of digital competence in educational research. The results indicate that most research on digital competence in educational contexts related to COVID-19 focused on the current state of the digital competence of teachers and students, especially those in higher education and formal learning context. Still, with the situation compounded, the researchers furthered their study by investigating the factors that influenced digital competence in order to address educational challenges in a pandemic context. In addition, teachers and students were still not well equipped as for digital competence though their digital awareness and digital readiness in the teaching and learning process increased. It is recommended to promote and enhance digital competence training in order to improve students’ achievement and the quality of education.
format Article
id doaj-art-bfb662891bbe42889db81edc3aee0713
institution Kabale University
issn 2504-284X
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Education
spelling doaj-art-bfb662891bbe42889db81edc3aee07132025-08-20T03:40:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2025-03-011010.3389/feduc.2025.15414751541475Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19Yu Zhao0María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez1Ana María Pinto-Llorente2Raúl Sánchez Prieto3Department of Modern Philology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainDepartment of Didactics, Organisation and Research Methods, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainDepartment of Didactics, Organisation and Research Methods, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainDepartment of Modern Philology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainNowadays, with technology penetrating into every aspect of our life, the ways to acquire knowledge has been greatly revolutionized. The outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has accelerated digital informatization in education and the educational model has been transformed substantially. The demand for digital competence is at record high. The purpose of this study is to systematically explore digital competence in different national educational contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2021), to provide academics with the current state of digital competence in education and main research trends in digital competence in education during this period, elucidate the impact of pandemic on digital competence, and explore the limitations in the implementation of digital competence in educational research. The results indicate that most research on digital competence in educational contexts related to COVID-19 focused on the current state of the digital competence of teachers and students, especially those in higher education and formal learning context. Still, with the situation compounded, the researchers furthered their study by investigating the factors that influenced digital competence in order to address educational challenges in a pandemic context. In addition, teachers and students were still not well equipped as for digital competence though their digital awareness and digital readiness in the teaching and learning process increased. It is recommended to promote and enhance digital competence training in order to improve students’ achievement and the quality of education.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1541475/fulldigital competenceeducationsystematic reviewpandemicdigital transformation
spellingShingle Yu Zhao
María Cruz Sánchez-Gómez
Ana María Pinto-Llorente
Raúl Sánchez Prieto
Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
Frontiers in Education
digital competence
education
systematic review
pandemic
digital transformation
title Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
title_full Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
title_fullStr Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
title_full_unstemmed Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
title_short Adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift: a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to COVID-19
title_sort adapting to crisis and unveiling the digital shift a systematic literature review of digital competence in education related to covid 19
topic digital competence
education
systematic review
pandemic
digital transformation
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1541475/full
work_keys_str_mv AT yuzhao adaptingtocrisisandunveilingthedigitalshiftasystematicliteraturereviewofdigitalcompetenceineducationrelatedtocovid19
AT mariacruzsanchezgomez adaptingtocrisisandunveilingthedigitalshiftasystematicliteraturereviewofdigitalcompetenceineducationrelatedtocovid19
AT anamariapintollorente adaptingtocrisisandunveilingthedigitalshiftasystematicliteraturereviewofdigitalcompetenceineducationrelatedtocovid19
AT raulsanchezprieto adaptingtocrisisandunveilingthedigitalshiftasystematicliteraturereviewofdigitalcompetenceineducationrelatedtocovid19