Assessing digital maturity of schools: framework and instrument

ABSTRACT

The European Commission emphasises the need for educational institutions to integrate digital technologies in their teaching, learning and organisational practices. This study contributes to the field of digital transformation of schools by proposing and validating a Framework for Digitally Mature Schools (FDMS) and an instrument for assessing the level of schools’ digital maturity. The FDMS and the instrument recognise five areas divided into 38 elements described across five different levels in the form of a rubric. This assessment instrument enables schools to measure their current level of digital maturity and pinpoint the areas that require improvements. The developed Framework and instrument support educational institutions in the assessment, promotion and integration of digital technologies in their teaching, learning and organisational practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital maturity
• school
• framework
• instrument
• assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. DigCompOrg. Digitally Competent Educational Organisations. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomporg/framework

2. E-learning Roadmap. http://www.ncte.ie/elearningplan/roadmap/

3. SELFIE tool. Self-reflection on Effective Learning by Fostering the use of Innovative Educational Technologies. https://ec.europa.eu/education/schools-go-digital

Additional information

Funding

The development of this article was co-financed by the European Union from European structural and investment funds and was carried out under the pilot project ‘e-Schools: Establishing a System for Developing Digitally Mature Schools’. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the authors.

Notes on contributors

Igor Balaban

Dr Nina Begicevic Redjep is Full Professor at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics. The field of her interest is strategic planning and business decision making, multi-criteria decision making, decision theory, education technology and the application of digital technologies in education and e-learning. She is a co-author and author of a number of books and monographs, as well as more than 80 scientific articles. She has received several awards for her work in science and education in Croatia and abroad.

Dr Igor Balaban is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics and the Head of the Laboratory for advanced technologies in e-learning. He has rich experience with coordination and participation in large European and national projects. His main field of interest is technology-supported learning with special focus on adaptivity and personalisation in learning environments and digital transformation of educational organisations. He also has a traceable scientific record in assessing the successful implementation of information systems.

Dr Bojan Zugec is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics. He graduated from the Faculty of Science – Department of Mathematics, University of Zagreb in the field of Applied Mathematics and Mathematics Education. For many years he worked as a tutor at the E-learning academy of Croatian’s Academic and Research Network (CARNET). He is an author of several scientific and professional papers, as well as one book chapter.