Beyond functionality: Building critical digital teaching competence among future primary education teachers

Abstract

Digital literacy has moved away from its traditional instrumental conception, to be nourished by critical perspectives that have been increasingly adopted in all areas of the analysis of technology and education. The importance of generating educational models that contribute to the emancipation of people in a post-digital and highly complex world is an increasingly evident challenge. However, it is still difficult to find concrete examples of pedagogical strategies specifically devised to foster digital literacy in line with this much needed emerging critical lens. This paper presents a case study of a set of learning experiences integrated into a compulsory module for students in the 1st year of a degree in education sciences, which leads to the qualification required to teach at primary schools in Spain. The results highlight the importance of providing students with learning opportunities conceived to help them become future teachers ready to have a transversal impact on education for the emancipation of people in the post-digital world, rather than simply training them as operators who use technology to enhance skills.

Digital Literacy 5.0 to Enhance Multicultural Education

“…It's about acknowledging the rich tapestry of global cultures and ensuring that digital technologies are designed with the diversity and uniqueness of this global audience in mind. Such an approach not only enhances the user experience for all but also contributes to a more equitable and culturally aware digital landscape (441).…”

No way back: From naive social media practices to committed approaches

“…Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(1), ep404 transparent social media use, among others. The Call for Papers drew 13 articles, out of them five papers were accepted after peer review and recently published in this Special Issue (Castañeda & Villar-Onrubia, 2023;Montiel-Ruiz et al, 2023;Stewart, 2023;Torres-Hernández & Gallego-Arrufat, 2023;Tran et al, 2023). These five papers consist of two empirical studies and three case studies as practical experiences that connect to the proposed topic.…”

“…The three case studies of this Special Issue are of very different nature: two class projects (Castañeda & Villar-Onrubia, 2023;Montiel-Ruiz et al, 2023) and one longitudinal study of a self-explored professional development (Stewart, 2023).…”

Algorithmic Futures: An analysis of teacher professional digital competence frameworks through an algorithm literacy lens

“…Multiple studies have pointed to a deficiency in PDC of newly qualified teachers and called for PDC-related changes to TE programs (e.g., Arstorp, 2021;Foulger et al, 2017;Lindfors et al, 2021;Örtegren, 2022). Training programs involving collaboration with student teachers (Reisoğlu & Çebi, 2020) and subject-specific interventions providing opportunities for critical reasoning (Castañeda & Villar-Onrubia, 2023) in TE programs have been shown to improve PDC, especially related to attitudes and critical approaches to technology use. Lisborg et al (2021) noted that approaches to PDC development in TE have taken the form of standalone courses, full integration across subject areas, and a mix of the two; one approach has not clearly shown to be more effective than the another.…”