Digital Competence of Higher Education Students as a Predictor of Academic Success

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the digital competence of Higher Education students, as a function of their academic performance (have either repeated or a not previously), as well as to predict its significant predictors. For this, an ex-post factor and a sample of 17,301 students from Chile (Latin America) were utilized. A questionnaire composed of a total of 30 items, classified into five endogenous and exogenous dimensions through a causal model, adapted from the works of Gutiérrez-Castillo (Estudio de la competencia digital del alumnado de educación superior. Un análisis de las titulaciones de grado de educación infantil y primaria en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía. [Tesis doctoral inédita]. Universidad de Sevilla, 2017), Gutiérrez-Castillo & Cabero (Profesorado, Revista De Currículum Y Formación Del Profesorado 20:180–199, 2016) and Gutiérrez-Castillo et al. (Espacios 38:16, 2017), was administered via online to the students. The results showed statistically significant differences in digital competence, as a function of repeating an academic year or not, with better scores for the latter. Also, factors such as the number of digital resources utilized for the teaching–learning process, the previous preparation for managing their studies, as well as the level of education of the parents, mainly the father, significantly had an influence on both types of students. This study highlights the importance of the development of an adequate digital competence which has an influence on the learning of the students and their posterior class promotion.