Fostering University Students’ Digital Skills: De Jure vs De Facto

Abstract

The article discusses the problem of within-the-education-process fostering digital skills among university students of various training programs. The specific skills (relevant to a particular sphere) are differentiated from the general ones (digital skills formed beyond the IT industry). The authors suggest that all training programs contain a «pillow» of general digital skills, which can be fixed both de jure – in the methodological and regulatory bases of the educational process, and de facto – in teaching practices. The study identifies a framework for general and specific digital skills. To test the hypotheses, two groups of data are analyzed: the normative and methodological bases of educational programs (fostering skills de jure) and students’ questionnaire answers on how the practices of developing and using digital skills in their studies are integrated (fostering skills de facto). The research is carried out in seven programs with obviously wide differences – from medicine to information technology and philology. The research has shown that digital skills are de jure represented in all programs, but normative consolidation is more typical for general skills, not for specific digital ones. There is identified a gap between de jure and de facto fostering digital skills, and this gap is various for different programs. The research results can be used in universities when designing strategies to form digital skills or when modifying such skills-related methodological bases of training programs.