Enhancing educators’ digital literacy through digital leadership and organizational culture

Abstract

Despite rapid advances in digital technology and online learning, educators at the education and training center face limited digital access, low information and communication technology (ICT) proficiency, and difficulty integrating technology, reflecting the slow national rise in digital literacy. This study tests whether strengthening digital leadership and aligning organizational culture can improve educators’ digital competencies. A cross-sectional survey of 120 educators was analyzed using path analysis in JASP. Findings indicate that digital leadership strongly predicts organizational culture (β=0.869, z=28.834, p<0.001). Both digital leadership (β=0.208, z=2.453, p=0.014) and organizational culture (β=0.317, z=3.477, p<0.001) significantly influence educators’ digital literacy and the model explains a large portion of variance. Theoretically, results refine digital leadership models by clarifying the mediating role of culture and identifying leadership practices such as vision articulation, modelling of digital practice and alignment of infrastructure that support competence. Practically, institutions should embed digital goals in policy, allocate time for peer learning, incentivize pedagogical experimentation, and foster cross-unit collaboration. These interventions are more likely to produce sustained improvements than equipment purchases or one-off training and provide guidance for leaders and policymakers to accelerate institutional digital transformation.