VNU-USSH: The first university to establish a Digital Competency Framework for students

Accordingly, the Digital Competency Framework was developed with the aim of enabling students at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to possess the necessary digital competencies to live, study, work, and engage in social interactions actively, positively, and safely within a digital environment.
This Digital Competency Framework is utilized and widely provided to all organizations and training units as a reference material for developing digital competency programs tailored to specific target groups.
The Digital Competency Framework for students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, includes seven competency groups with 26 criteria:
1. Operation of devices and software
2. Information & data exploitation
3. Communication and collaboration in the digital environment
4. Safety and digital welfare
5. Digital content creation
6. Studying and development of digital skills
7. Application of digital competencies in the profession The specific competencies described within these major groups are also reclassified and rearranged to reduce emphasis on the technical aspects of operations and more on applying technology in practice through attitudes, empathy, critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation.
Previously, in November 2022, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi collaborated with the Vietnam Association of Universities and Colleges and Meta Corporation to organize the "Digital Competency for Students in the Context of Digital Transformation in Higher Education" Workshop. At this workshop, the expert group from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities unveiled Vietnam's first Digital Competency Framework for students, based on extensive research and references to globally popular digital competency frameworks. This framework has been extensively referred to by domestic training units to develop digital competency programs, with the goal of equipping learners with the skills and knowledge necessary to study, work, and communicate actively and safely in the digital environment. Additionally, two documents, "Digital Competency Development Handbook" and "Digital Competency Monograph," were introduced in detail at the workshop concerning their content and effective usage. The proactive research and application of the digital competency framework for students, as well as being a pioneer in digital transformation, carried out by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, have been highly praised by participants.

At the workshop, Professor Hoang Anh Tuan - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities emphasized that Vietnamese students possess all the qualities and opportunities to develop comprehensively in the digital environment. These individuals will be the pillars and stewards of the country in the future, so it is crucial to equip them with digital competencies to prepare them for entering the labor market. The present necessity is to provide young people with a basic understanding and skills about the digital world, offering them a multi-dimensional perspective to help establish a unique value system based on the spirit of respecting differences, the ability to empathize, and the capacity for reasonable skepticism.