The Evolution of the Digital Literacy Framework from a Global Perspective: Its Development History,Current Challenges, and Future Directions

In the context of global digital transformation, understanding the evolution of digital literacy from an international perspective is essential for developing digital literacy standards that meet contemporary educational needs in China. This study conducted a content analysis of 44 publications published between 2014 and 2024 to examine the foundations of digital literacy frameworks, trace the evolution of their core dimensions, summarize key characteristics of global digital literacy, and analyze their practical applications. The findings reveal several challenges in current research, including disparities between teachers’ and students’ digital literacy, imbalances in literacy cultivation and ethical responsibility, limitations of assessment tools and qualitative evidence, and differences in digital literacy development priorities across countries. In response, this study proposes the localized adaptation of international experiences, the improvement of framework design for diverse populations, and the expansion of mixed-method and longitudinal research. The results further reveal a shift in digital literacy frameworks from a technology-oriented to a competency-oriented perspective and identify key characteristics of their practical application, providing implications for comparative framework studies, localized standard development, evaluation indicator construction, and digital literacy assessment design.