Abstract:

Over the years, researchers have dwelled upon the differences between digital literacies and digital competence (Ferrari, 2012; Zhao et al, 2021). For example, digital literacy has originated from literacy - and media research, while digital competence is most often used in pedagogical research, and computer science (Godhe, 2019, Erstad et al, 2021). Several review articles have investigated how digital competence can be understood and practiced (ilomäki et al, 2016; Zhao et al, 2021).

While several initiatives have been effectuated to meet foster teachers’ professional digital competence, both from practitioners and researchers, less attention has been drawn to gain insights on digital competence for school leaders (Petterson, 2018). We will argue that the digital competence for school leaders are crucial for several reasons;
1) for ensuring the professional development of digital competence for teachers;
2) to ensure and maintain adequate digital infrastructure at schools;
3) to provide and ensure a school culture that involves ethical and juridical dimensions on the use of digital technology in schools.

Based on theories of digital maturity frameworks (Ifenthaler & Egolfstein, 2020), we will here elaborate and discuss why such holistic approaches may serve as fruitful approaches towards promoting digital transformation in schools. A key perspective here would be to further explore what makes the professional digital competence for school leaders in these contexts (Dexter & Richardson, 2020; Lindquist & Petterson, 2019).

Our presentation brings in some empirical examples from an ongoing study on professional digital competence for school leaders from a Norwegian context, which we then discuss in the light of digital maturity models.

References:
[1] Dexter, S., & Richardson, J. W. (2020). What does technology integration research tell us about the leadership of technology?. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 52(1), 17-36
[2] Erstad, O., Kjällander, S., & Järvelä, S. (2021). Facing the challenges of ‘digital competence’ a Nordic agenda for curriculum development for the 21st century. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 16(2), 77-87.
[3] Ferrari, A. (2012). Digital competence in practice: An analysis of frameworks. Luxembourg: European Union.
[4] Godhe, A. L. (2019). Digital literacies or digital competence: Conceptualizations in Nordic curricula. Media and Communication, 7(2), 25-35.
[5] Ifenthaler, D., & Egloffstein, M. (2020). Development and implementation of a maturity model of digital transformation. TechTrends, 64(2), 302-309.
[6] Ilomäki, L., Paavola, S., Lakkala, M., & Kantosalo, A. (2016). Digital competence – An emergent boundary concept for policy and educational research. Education and Information Technologies, 21(3), 655–679. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-014-9346-4.
[7] Lindqvist, M. H., & Pettersson, F. (2019). Digitalization and school leadership: On the complexity of leading for digitalization in school. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 36(3), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijilt-11-2018-0126.
[8] Pettersson, F. (2018). On the issues of digital competence in educational contexts–a review of literature. Education and information technologies, 23(3), 1005-1021.
[9] Zhao, Y., Llorente, A. M. P., & Gómez, M. C. S. (2021). Digital competence in higher education research: A systematic literature review. Computers & Education, 168, 104212.

Keywords:

Digital transformation, school leaders, professional development, digital competence.