Developing digital literacy in initial EFL teacher education: A study in a Spanish distance university

EFL teachers’ digital literacy: the role of contextual factors in their literacy development

“…Consistent with the literature, this research found that there was no statistically significant difference between the level of teachers’ education and their digital literacy ( Tondeur et al, 2017 ; Katia and José Tejada, 2018 ; Fu and Wang, 2022 ; Palacios-Hidalgo and Huertas-Abril, 2022 ). One of the reasons for that is the need to update the digital knowledge of teachers with doctorate degrees and the need for them to be constantly aware of educational and social contexts.…”

“…This important thing can help people identify, access, manage, share, evaluate ( Alavi et al, 2022 ), combine digital resources, produce science, create new media terms, and establish relationships with others ( Hutchison, 2012 ; Hall et al, 2014 ; Ilomäki et al, 2016 ; Gurevich et al, 2017 ; Hutchison and Woodward, 2018 ). Based on this point of view, digital literacy goes beyond acquiring the basic skills of information and communication technology for the application of technology, including the awareness, attitude, ability of people to identify, access, manage, complete, evaluate, analyze, and combine content and digital resources, create new knowledge, create Media expressions, and communication with others are in the context of special life conditions ( Ilomäki et al, 2016 ; Jeong, 2017 ; Pettersson, 2018 ; List, 2019 ; Palacios-Hidalgo and Huertas-Abril, 2022 ; Tawafak et al, 2023 ).…”

“…One of the main goals of education is to create correct and appropriate classroom changes ( Murphy and Lebans, 2009 ). Naturally, one of these factors can be the digital literacy of teachers ( Palacios-Hidalgo and Huertas-Abril, 2022 ). In order to improve this literacy, teachers should respond positively to modern and inevitable changes and adapt themselves to these changes ( Pérez-Escoda et al, 2019 ).…”

“…In a similar research, Shively and Palilonis (2018) pointed out that the authorities should pay more attention to the role of digital technology in schools and prepare the access and use of it for teachers and students in the direction of their expected success. Other studies have emphasized the benefits of digital literacy ( Hall et al, 2014 ; Instefjord and Munthe, 2017 ; List, 2019 ; Mellati et al, 2022 ; Palacios-Hidalgo and Huertas-Abril, 2022 ).…”

“…For instance, digital spaces may be used more for entertainment and less for educational purposes ( Murphy and Lebans, 2009 ). For instance, Palacios-Hidalgo and Huertas-Abril (2022) argued that a lack of digital literacy could expose teachers and students to inappropriate and invalid content and distance them from the real world or lead to addiction to technology. In addition, Bond et al (2019) argued that this crucial issue would lead to the risk of the digital divide in terms of access to digital facilities and the ability to use them ( Tamborg et al, 2018 ; Mellati and Khademi, 2019 ; Belda-Medina, 2022 ).…”