Digital Learning Hubs: Evaluating Their Role in Fostering Complex and Computational Thinking

Digital Learning Hubs and educational repositories are key tools to offer innovative educational experiences in the context of the digital transformation of education. However, their evaluation has often been approached from fragmented perspectives, limiting a comprehensive understanding of their role as integrated digital learning ecosystems. This study aimed to evaluate the functionalities, usability, and accessibility of 25 digital platforms through 1519 observations, conceiving these dimensions as interconnected components for supporting the development of complex and computational thinking, and testing five hypotheses related to their performance. A quantitative descriptive–correlational approach was employed for the study. Internal and external functionalities were assessed using a specifically designed instrument, while usability was analyzed according to ISO 9241: Ergonomics of human–system interaction (efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction), and accessibility was evaluated based on WCAG 2.1 standards. The results showed that platforms with higher scores in internal functionalities, particularly personalization and evaluation, exhibited a positive correlation with higher usability metrics, including efficiency and user satisfaction. Accessibility limitations and weaknesses in external functionalities were identified as relevant factors affecting platform performance, with recurring shortcomings in Operable and Understandable. In addition, the availability of courses explicitly focused on complex and computational thinking revealed a gap in specialized training within the analyzed platforms. From a research perspective, this study contributes by providing a multi-criteria evaluation framework and comparative empirical evidence that clarifies the relationships between platform functionality, usability, accessibility, and the development of complex and computational thinking. These findings support developing a Digital Learning Hub as balanced, robust, and evidence informed digital learning ecosystems.