Exploring the contribution of selected EMJM programs to students' digital competence: A study of EDISS and SECCLO
Cruz Martínez, Ahiram (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Research and Innovation in Higher Education
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-06-24
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202406036637
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202406036637
Tiivistelmä
Utilising digital tools and navigating a digital environment has become essential for any profession and for our daily lives. Recognising this, in 2018, the European Union declared ‘digital competence’ as one of the lifelong learning competencies. Education, at all levels, plays a role in role in equipping individuals with these competencies. To achieve this, some initiatives exist in Europe like the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (EMJM) programs that aim to address societal needs and enhance employability. Despite their importance and potential to foster digital competence among students, the specific contributions of EMJMs to this development remain underexplored.
To fill this gap, this research explores how selected EMJM contributes to developing students’ digital competence and how their organisational structure, with the involvement of both human and non-human actors, enables this contribution. A multiple case study design was employed, focusing on two programs in the technology field, EDISS and SECCLO. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis guided by the DigComp Framework and Actor-Network Theory were conducted. The findings indicate that the EMJMs create an ecosystem with multiple elements that contribute to the development of the five areas of digital competence in different manners. Additionally, it was found that both human and non-human actors play crucial roles in the contribution due to the multiple interactions among them. However, contributions are more pronounced in knowledge and attitudes due to students' pre-existing high skill levels, and no strong evidence was found to determine if the contributions are specifically due to the Erasmus Mundus designation.
To fill this gap, this research explores how selected EMJM contributes to developing students’ digital competence and how their organisational structure, with the involvement of both human and non-human actors, enables this contribution. A multiple case study design was employed, focusing on two programs in the technology field, EDISS and SECCLO. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis guided by the DigComp Framework and Actor-Network Theory were conducted. The findings indicate that the EMJMs create an ecosystem with multiple elements that contribute to the development of the five areas of digital competence in different manners. Additionally, it was found that both human and non-human actors play crucial roles in the contribution due to the multiple interactions among them. However, contributions are more pronounced in knowledge and attitudes due to students' pre-existing high skill levels, and no strong evidence was found to determine if the contributions are specifically due to the Erasmus Mundus designation.