Conceptualising Critical Digital Competence: Creation and Evaluation of an Ecological Framework

Abstract

Digital competence is widely recognised as a key competence for contemporary citizens, yet educational enactments often prioritise instrumental and functional skills over critical, ethical and socio-political engagement with digital environments. While diverse traditions have conceptualised critical digital literacy, these contributions remain dispersed and are rarely articulated within an integrative framework that connects competence with learner agency and pedagogical design. This study develops and refines an ecological conceptual framework for critical digital competence (CDC) within a broader research project. The framework was constructed through an iterative qualitative synthesis of three systematic literature reviews (CDC, learner agency and open educational practices), supported by collaborative coding informed by grounded theory principles and relational concept mapping. To strengthen internal coherence and completeness, the preliminary framework was refined through a two-round Delphi process with international experts. The results present a conceptualisation of CDC that foregrounds digital technologies as non-neutral, value-laden systems and organises the framework around interrelated aims, justifications, elements, requirements and pedagogical supports, explicitly linked to agency and open educational practices. The article discusses the theoretical contribution of this ecological articulation and its potential to inform educational design, while acknowledging the need for further refinement as digital technologies continue to evolve.