Pre-University Teachers’ Digital Competence And Wellbeing: An Israeli And Romanian Comparative Study

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, education systems have adopted as a solution a high-speed transfer of face-to-face courses into online or distance ones. Moreover, teachers have been given very little or no guidance or prior training about online synchronous and asynchronous learning, online effective teaching strategies, proper digital gadgets and teaching platforms. There have consistently been reports that teachers have a higher risk of developing psychological disorders in comparison with people from other professional fields. Therefore, the research paper also investigates a concept frequently studied nowadays in connection with mental health, wellbeing-as it enhances the development of personal skills and the realization of personal potential. The study was conducted to assess and compare Israeli and Romanian pre-university teachers' digital competence and wellbeing after three semesters of virtual environment mediated teaching. Two self-reported scales with excellent psychometric value were used for gathering data, namely The Competence Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). The results showcase the differences and similarities of the two groups of teachers regarding six areas of digital competencies of educators proposed by the European Framework and wellbeing status. Finally, future research and teacher training issues are discussed.