Abstract:

We are witnessing increasing emphasis on the need for students to possess the necessary digital competences and skills to identify, define, and solve complex problems upon graduation. To achieve this, student motivation, collaborative learning, and involvement in research projects are crucial, while creating a stimulating university environment and developing an open and flexible teaching model are required. This paper represents a research summary of the collaboration between the authors, achieved through the student-mentor relationship during the implementation of the Disruptive Innovations and Design Thinking course at the University North. Extended collaboration was preformed trough the Innovative Ideas Festival and the elaboration of the research results on "Digital Competences of Teachers - Higher Education" project. The research was conducted using the EU-standard tool "Higher Education SELFIEforTEACHERS" with a self-assessment test technique, involving 411 teachers from 75 higher education institutions in Croatia. For the purposes of this paper, the research results related to teaching and learning, empowering students, and developing students' digital competences were considered, based on which the information constructs were created: d-Learning, d-Motivation, d-Competences. The first part of the paper provides a systematic review of the literature, including an analysis of theoretical concepts of inter/active learning, a comparative analysis of recent related research, and insights into relevant methods of assessing digital competences. Following the review of literature, three objectives are pursued: (I) describing the concepts, (II) providing an overview of trends and (III) identifying challenges in assessing teachers' digital competences in higher education. Objectives are elaborated within the discussion of research results through (IV) designing, planning, and implementing the use of digital technologies in various stages of the teaching and learning process, (V) providing learning activities tailored to the level of knowledge, interests, and learning needs of each student, and (VI) developing students' digital competences. Obtained results are summarized using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. It is concluded that the implementation of d-Learning directly influences the level of d-Motivation of students and indirectly improves d-Competences, which provides an incentive for further related research. In addition to that, one possible direction for future research is to explore to what extent and in what way the use of a single digital tool, such as artificial intelligence, enhances the development of students' digital competences compared to the use of other tools.

Keywords:

Collaborative learning, d-learning, d-Motivation, d-Competencies, innovation, digital competences.