Exploring digital competences in Zimbabwean secondary schools using a multimodal view: a hermeneutical phenomenography study

This paper presents a study that investigates digital competencies within the Zimbabwean secondary education system. Limited research has focused on Zimbabwe’s secondary schoolteachers’ digital literacy in online learning. The study utilised DigComp 2.2 as the framework, and employed a multi-method participative approach to collect data from secondary schools across the 10 provinces of the country. Thrirty nine interviews were conducted across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, including 15 FGDs with learners, 21 in-depth interviews with teachers, and three key informant interviews with education directors, resulting in 215 participants. The results of a 3-dimensional modal analysis revealed a multifaceted situation in five key areas: problem-solving, safety and security, digital content creation, communication and collaboration, and information and data literacy. The study found that both teachers and learners were proficient in using applications such as WhatsApp, MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Computer Science students demonstrated specialised skills, particularly in programming. Although teachers aim to improve digital literacy by teaching critical evaluations of online content, challenges persist in rural regions because of limited access to ICT tools and infrastructure. Collaboration is facilitated through platforms such as WhatsApp; however, ensuring inclusive participation remains a challenge. Digital safety and security have been identified as the major concerns. While progress has been made in areas such as Communication and Collaboration and Information Literacy, challenges still exist in digital content creation, problem-solving, and safety and security. These findings offer policymakers insights into maximising the impact of integrating ICTs in education.