Digital Competencies in Formal and Hidden Curriculum

Research on digital competence has been one of the most important policy goals in the area of education in the European Union for almost two decades. In 2017, two essential documents were published: DigComp 2.1 - The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with eight proficiency levels (Carretero et al., 2017) and examples of use and the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators – DigCompEdu (Redecker, 2017). Despite these documents and all the research in the field of digital competencies, there is still no unified instrument for measuring the digital competencies of citizens. The problem is that digital competencies encompass a wide range of skills, from basic digital literacy to advanced technical proficiency, and they evolve with technological advancements. Researchers and policymakers face several obstacles in creating a one-size-fits-all tool for assessing these competencies. This paper expands existing research in the field of digital competence in formal education in Slovenia. Our research aimed to explore curricular aspects of acquiring digital competencies within the three levels of formal education and the level of achieving digital competencies among citizens (students) in Slovenia. The purpose of our study was to gain a broader understanding of how participants in formal education obtain digital competencies to obtain a publicly recognized qualification within the education system in Slovenia.