Special Issue "Digital Competences for a Sustainable Society"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Margarita Pino-Juste
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Guest Editor
Department of Didactics and School Organization, University of Vigo, 36005 Pontevedra, Spain
Interests: program design and evaluation; educational innovation processes; inclusive education
Prof. Dr. José Antonio Marín-Marín
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Guest Editor
Dr. Antonio José Moreno Guerrero
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Didactics and School Organization, University of Granada, 51001 Ceuta, Spain
Interests: didactics; teaching and learning; ICT; E-learning; school organization; educational supervision
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Jesús López Belmonte
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Didactics and School Organization, University of Granada, 51001 Ceuta, Spain
Interests: ICT; active methodologies; educational innovation; robotics
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current global pandemic scenario has led to a rapid adaptation of many jobs so that they can continue to be performed from home. These developments have highlighted the need for a range of skills, including digital skills. Fields as diverse as education, business, public administration and health have been pushed to virtualise their daily work. In many cases, the employee has been required to train and acquire digital skills that had not previously been given the importance they deserved.

From this point of view, this monograph sets out a proposal that includes all the research that has been carried out and is currently being carried out on digital competences in all areas, both in the workplace and professionally.

In order to allow time to develop and finalise the research currently underway, this Special Issue will be open for one year to compile quality studies that promote the acquisition of digital competences in pursuit of a sustainable society.

Dr. Margarita Pino-Juste
Dr. José Antonio Marín-Marín
Dr. Antonio José Moreno Guerrero
Dr. Jesús López Belmonte
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • digital competences
  • sustainability
  • research
  • learning
  • teaching
  • sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
The Evolving Economic Employment of ICT Education: The Case of Norway
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8476; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158476 - 29 Jul 2021
Viewed by 321
Abstract
Digitisation breaks down traditional industry and sector boundaries and fuels new work structures and networks. By using linked employer–employee data for Norway (years 2013–2017), we address two research questions: whether some parts of the economy increasingly need people who are “specialised” in ICT, [...] Read more.
Digitisation breaks down traditional industry and sector boundaries and fuels new work structures and networks. By using linked employer–employee data for Norway (years 2013–2017), we address two research questions: whether some parts of the economy increasingly need people who are “specialised” in ICT, in the sense that the main focus of their formal education is ICT, and whether the ongoing digitisation processes in the Norwegian economy have altered the complementarities between ICT education and other types of formal education. By means of a shift-share analysis, we disentangle the contributions to employment deriving from variation in the education mix within the sectors. We also observe the recent labour flows of ICT-educated workers across sectors of the Norwegian economy. Then, an establishment-level analysis sheds light on possible evolutions of the complementarity of ICT education with other types of education. Public administration and health are revealed to be increasingly important attractors for ICT-educated people. Nonetheless, the ICT industries still employ many ICT-educated individuals and they are becoming more specialised, possibly as outsourcees of services to other industries. Finally, flows of ICT-educated employees from and to the sales sector and the publishing and audiovisual industries suggest an evolving knowledge content in these areas of the economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Competences for a Sustainable Society)
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Article
Emotional Cognitive Regulation in University Students during Lockdown: A Comparative Analysis of Students from Spanish Universities
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6946; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126946 - 21 Jun 2021
Viewed by 442
Abstract
Studies focusing on strategies for the cognitive regulation of emotions are gaining importance due to the development and perpetuation of psychopathologies. The obligatory home confinement imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to new virtual learning methodologies. Objective: Our objective aimed [...] Read more.
Studies focusing on strategies for the cognitive regulation of emotions are gaining importance due to the development and perpetuation of psychopathologies. The obligatory home confinement imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to new virtual learning methodologies. Objective: Our objective aimed to analyze and compare the cognitive emotional regulation of students from universities on the Spanish mainland with that of students attending the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Methods: An online Emotional Regulation Questionnaire was applied, together with a survey covering the students’ beliefs about the pandemic, including information about their housing conditions and beliefs about online learning. The study included a sample of 1030 university students. Results: On the mainland and at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the students most frequently used adaptive strategies. Three of the strategies were used in both groups but to different extents (Acceptance, Positive reappraisal, Putting into perspective), while the other strategies were used in both groups to the same extent (Refocusing on planning, Positive refocusing, Rumination, Blaming others, Catastrophizing, Self-blame). Meanwhile, the results were quite similar regarding the students’ housing conditions and beliefs about the pandemic and online learning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Competences for a Sustainable Society)

Review

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Review
COVID-19 in the Field of Education: State of the Art
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5452; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105452 - 13 May 2021
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Abstract
COVID-19 has produced a transformation in society that has, in turn, influenced the field of education. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of COVID-19 on education using the Web of Science database. A methodology based on bibliometrics was used. [...] Read more.
COVID-19 has produced a transformation in society that has, in turn, influenced the field of education. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of COVID-19 on education using the Web of Science database. A methodology based on bibliometrics was used. Specifically, a scientific mapping of the literature was carried out, as well as a co-word analysis on the state of the question. The analysis included 940 publications. The results show that the institution with the highest volume of production in this field is the University of London. Among the journals, the Journal of Chemical Education stands out. Furthermore, in the analysis of the structural and thematic development of co-words, a high percentage of keyword matching was observed. In 2020, the motor themes were mental-health, organic-chemistry, general-public, first-year-undergraduate, and upper-division-undergraduate, while in 2021, they were autism-spectrum-disorder, adoption, internet, and intervention. It can be concluded that investigation into COVID-19 in the educational field is in its initial process. The research is currently mainly oriented to pedagogical methods, especially e-learning or collaborative learning, although they are not the only trends in this field. Research is also focusing on mental health, students with various disorders, and higher education. In the near future, research on COVID-19 in the field of education will probably be oriented to the application of effective pedagogical methods to train students at various educational stages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Competences for a Sustainable Society)
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Other

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Perspective
Digitainability—Digital Competences Post-COVID-19 for a Sustainable Society
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9564; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179564 - 25 Aug 2021
Viewed by 288
Abstract
The digitalization of societies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is an unstoppable process. This paper seeks to answer the question: what post-COVID-19 digital competences are needed for a sustainable society? It also aims to analyze the digitalization processes in education for shaping a [...] Read more.
The digitalization of societies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is an unstoppable process. This paper seeks to answer the question: what post-COVID-19 digital competences are needed for a sustainable society? It also aims to analyze the digitalization processes in education for shaping a sustainable digital society. A bibliographic search was performed on some of the most relevant international databases of scientific literature and the selected documents were analyzed through a content analysis. It is concluded that digital education has experienced a strong increase, reinforced by COVID-19, shaping the digital presence in all dimensions of life. However, it is not sufficient to assume that the new generations are naturally engaged in and can master digital social sustainability. The results demonstrate the importance of literacy and the unavoidable promotion of sustainability in a digital society. However, this digitalization of the educational process poses several challenges: it requires both software and hardware conditions, as well as digital literacy as a result of a complex of literacies. It also implies that teachers and students change their standpoints and practices with the attainment of new teaching and learning competences in order to fight the digital divide and to foster the widest possible social inclusion for the promotion of sustainable society—digitainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Competences for a Sustainable Society)
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