In Pakistan’s evolving higher education landscape, the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) plays a vital role in promoting student engagement and academic success. However, the extent to which students’ digital literacy and learning motivation shape this integration remains underexplored. This study investigates how digital literacy and learning motivation influence ICT integration, adopting the technology acceptance model and self-determination theory as the guiding framework. Using a cross-sectional survey of 450 undergraduate students from nine campuses of a public university, data were analyzed through partial least squares–structural equation modeling with 5,000 bootstrapped resamples. The results revealed that ICT use significantly enhances students’ academic performance, learning motivation, and digital literacy (β = 0.335, p < .001). Both learning motivation (β = 0.208, p < .001) and digital literacy (β = 0.211, p < .001) were strong predictors of academic performance, while their indirect effects (β = 0.071 and β = 0.113,) confirmed their mediating roles. These findings highlight that the effective integration of ICT extends beyond technological access, requiring pedagogical support and motivational engagement. The study contributes to the growing body of evidence from developing contexts by emphasizing that equitable ICT integration depends on addressing digital inequities, fostering digital competence, and embedding motivation-oriented learning practices within higher education curricula.
Shah et al. (Fri,) studied this question.