A 21^st-Century Digital Literacy Skills Development Framework for Undergraduate Students

The main objective of this research is to develop a <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century digital literacy skills framework for undergraduate students, using a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. A survey was conducted with 400 students, and interviews were held with 10 professors from public and private higher education institutions. The results of the structural equation model analysis showed the model fit indices as follows: GFI = 0.98, CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.95, p-value = 0.11, and RMSEA = 0.02. These indices met the required criteria. Therefore, it can be concluded that the developed causal relationship model for <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century digital literacy skills of undergraduate students is consistent with empirical data. The analysis details include 1) <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century skills and collaboration skills together explaining 88.0% of the variance in digital literacy skills, 2) both <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century skills and collaboration skills having a statistically significant positive influence on digital literacy skills at the 0.01 level, and 3) among these variables the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century skills having the greatest influence on digital literacy skills, followed by collaboration skills. The development of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century digital literacy skills framework for undergraduate students includes collaboration skills, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$21^{\text{st}}$</tex>-century skills, learning media, learning channels, and learning environments as components to drive the success of digital literacy skills development. When higher education institutions apply the framework through the four-step process, i.e., planning, management, implementation, and evaluation. It would benefit students by equipping them with the digital literacy skills needed for effective learning and work. Evaluation of the framework by two higher education institutions found it appropriate, with easy-to-understand steps that institutions can learn independently. Overall, the institutions showed a high level of acceptance of the framework.