Assessment of students’ digital competences in primary school: a systematic review

Although there is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of being digitally competent today, there have been few empirical investigations into the assessment of primary school students’ digital competences. This study presents a systematic review of the empirical research on the assessment of primary school students’ digital competences. In total, 14 studies were selected and reviewed. The purpose of this review is twofold. First, the areas of digital competence that were measured by the assessment instruments were labeled according to the European Digital Competence Framework. Results showed that most studies evaluated digital competences as ‘information and data literacy’, ‘communication and collaboration’ and ‘creation of digital content’. Less attention is paid to the assessment of the competence areas ‘safely and responsible use’ and ‘problem solving’. Besides, the emphasis of most instruments is rather on the measurement of skills. Attention towards knowledge and attitudes, as important aspects of competences, remain underexposed. Second, an analysis of the provided evidence of the quality of assessment instruments for measuring primary school students’ digital competences is given, based on the Research Centre for Examination and Certification Framework. Results indicate different approaches to increase the quality of the assessment instruments, but there is generally poor reporting of the psychometric properties of the tests. Based on these results, suggestions for further research and practice are discussed.