Teacher’s digital competence among final year Pedagogy students in Chile and Uruguay

Abstract

The development of Teacher’s Digital Competence (TDC) should start in initial teacher training, and continue throughout the following years of practice. All this with the purpose of using Digital Technologies (DT) to improve teaching and professional development. This paper presents a study focused on the diagnosis of TDC among ITT senior students from Chile and Uruguay. A quantitative methodology, with a representative sample of 568 students (N=273 from Chile and N=295 from Uruguay) was designed and implemented. TDC was also studied and discussed in relation to gender and educational level. Results showed a mostly basic level for the four dimensions of the TDC in the sample. Regarding the relationship between the variables and the TDC, the Planning, organization and management of spaces and technological resources’ dimension is the only one showing significant differences. In particular, male students achieved a higher TDC level compared with female students. Furthermore, the proportion of Primary Education students with a low TDC level was significantly higher than other students. In conclusion, it is necessary, for teacher training institutions in Chile and Uruguay, to implement policies at different moments and in different areas of the ITT process in order to improve the development of the TDC. El desarrollo de la Competencia Digital Docente (CDD) debe iniciarse en la etapa de formación inicial docente (FID) y extenderse durante los años de ejercicio. Todo ello con el propósito de usar las Tecnologías Digitales (TD) de manera que permitan enriquecer la docencia y el propio desarrollo profesional. El presente artículo expone los resultados de un trabajo con estudiantes de último año de FID de Chile y Uruguay para determinar su nivel de CDD. Para realizar el estudio se utilizó una metodología cuantitativa, con una muestra representativa estratificada de 568 estudiantes (n=273, Chile; n=295, Uruguay). Los datos se analizaron en relación al género y nivel educativo. Los resultados mostraron, para las cuatro dimensiones de la CDD, un desarrollo básico. Respecto a la relación entre las variables estudiadas y la CDD, destaca el porcentaje de hombres que alcanza competencias digitales avanzadas para la dimensión de Planificación, organización y gestión de espacios y recursos tecnológicos. También para esta dimensión la proporción de estudiantes de Educación Primaria con un desarrollo de CDD básico es significativamente superior al del resto de estudiantes. Como conclusión destacamos que es necesario que las instituciones formadoras de docentes implementen políticas a diferentes plazos y en diversos ámbitos de la FID como el sistema educativo, la formación y la docencia, para mejorar el nivel de desarrollo de la CDD.

Self-Perception and Training Perceptions on Teacher Digital Competence (TDC) in Spanish and French University Students

“…This affirmation coincides with the results of similar research [7,16,34,35], where it is shown that future teachers consider it necessary to be trained, specifically, in these competencies, in order to implement technological tools and emerging methodologies in the classroom in an operational and efficient manner. However, along the lines of other works [23][24][25][26], significant gender differences are identified, regardless of the country and university institution, with women attributing greater importance to their teacher training in digital skills. These values must be related to the differential self-perception that men and women have about their ability to manipulate the use of ICT [36].…”

“…The study followed four work phases: A theoretical review of the previous scientific literature on digital competence and, in particular, TDC and its potential link to gender, country, and institution. The gender factor has generated one of the most relevant research concerns in the analysis of the development and acquisition of digital competences in the educational field [23][24][25][26]. The interest in identifying differences in terms of the country and university institution of the participating students lies in their participation in educational innovation projects (in the process of initial development) with homogeneous purposes and, therefore, is not adapted to their potential national particularities and institutional academic policies (first phase); the design and validation of the instrument based on the collaboration of faculty from other national and international universities (second phase); the collection and emptying of information (third phase); the analysis and interpretation of the data obtained and elaboration of proposals for the improvement of initial teacher training (fourth phase).…”

Online teaching placement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile: challenges and opportunities

“…The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be useful in the classrooms as a source of new teaching materials. It also allows teachers to connect with other colleagues and create working networks with other schools (Silva, Usart, and Lázaro-Cantabrana 2019). These new digital technologies used in education trigger the need to search for new teaching strategies and approaches as a response to the shifts in student learning methods (Compton 2009).…”

Teacher Training in Lifelong Learning—The Importance of Digital Competence in the Encouragement of Teaching Innovation

“…At the same time, research on this subject also includes an analysis of factors that can be identified as possible incidents in the development of digital teaching skills such as the nature of the education center, which constitutes a determining factor in the development of digital teaching skills [40]. In turn, other variables such as gender, previous ICT training, teacher qualifications, teaching experience, and the sociocultural context may have a direct impact on the level of digital competence presented [41][42][43][44][45][46].…”