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Abstract
The digital literacy of academics in higher education is an important consideration. The role of the academic extends beyond that of teacher or tutor, and includes tasks around research, development, and administration. These tasks can be made more efficient and effective with a more developed digital literacy. Collection of the data around levels of digital literacy development and discussion around the findings of quantitative and qualitative studies through systemised review can inform professional development opportunities. Within this systemised review, the discovery phase resulted in 86,060 papers, an AI supported screening methodology resulted in 47 papers being included in the thematic review. The review identified themes around self-perception of digital literacy, difficulties with the study design, areas of weakness, influencing factors and development of digital literacy. The difficulty with many of the study approaches is the use of non-comparable datasets that have affected the usability of the findings in such a review. It was discovered that areas that would benefit from development to improve effectiveness and efficiency, and also the ability to approach tasks laterally, for the academic in their role are lacking. The review identified underdevelopment in areas of data security which puts the organisation at risk.
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Article Type: Review Article
Journal of Digital Educational Technology, Volume 6, Issue 2, October 2026, Article No: ep2618
https://doi.org/10.29333/jdet/18859
Publication date: 25 Jun 2026
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