Teachers’ digital competences assessment resources in online higher education: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Abstract This systematic literature review (SLR) explores how contemporary academic studies (2020-2025) have addressed the assessment of professors’ digital competences in the context of online higher education. Guided by Okoli’s procedures and the PRISMA protocol, 25 peer-reviewed articles were selected and synthesised using bibliometric, textual, and thematic analyses, and subsequently classified according to the typology of instruments proposed by Mattar, Ramos, and Lucas (2022). Findings identified 56 theoretical references and models, along with 18 instruments, revealing a diverse, globally distributed methodological landscape. Regarding the instruments, the predominance of quantitative methodologies and self-assessment instruments was exposed. The DigCompEdu Check-In stands out as a widely applied tool in different educational and cultural contexts. The analysis further identified a lack of transparency in how instruments were described and shared, frequently unnamed, lacking appendices, or methodologically underreported, as well as the susceptibility to cognitive biases inherent in the self-assessment instruments that dominate the corpus, and the use of ad hoc instruments without adequate validation or dissemination. Conclusions highlight that the field of digital skills assessment requires greater contextualisation, methodological diversification, and scientific rigour to support better educational practices in a digital transformation context.