Development of the Digital Competence in Secondary Education Teachers’ Training

Abstract

Digital competence is one of the 8 key competences for life-long learning developed by the European Commission, and is requisite for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment in the knowledge society. To accompany young learners in the development of the competence, it is necessary that parents and teachers are, in turn, literate. The level of Teacher Digital Competence of 43 Secondary School teachers in initial training was evaluated using the Common Framework, a series of rubrics for 21 sub-competences in 5 areas. The overall level of competence was low (Basic). Students scored highest in Information, which refers mostly to the operations they performed while students. Secondly, in Safety and Communication, excluding Protection of Digital Data and preservation of the Digital Identity. Lowest values were achieved in Content Creation and Problem Solving, the dimensions most closely related with the inclusion of ICTs to transform teaching-learning processes. The knowledge or skills they exhibit are largely self-taught and, so, we perceive an urgent need to purposefully incorporate relational and didactic aspects of ICT integration.

Influence of Age, Gender and Years of Experience on Teachers in Promoting Strategies for Digital Sustainability and Data Protection

“…The correct development of digital competence in teachers requires a responsible, critical and sustainable use of technology (Esteve, Gisbert, & Lázaro, 2016;Napal, Peñalva-Vélez, & Mendióroz, 2018). The concept of security in the teaching-learning processes is essential for preventing problems arising from inappropriate use, which can lead to poor academic performance or have a negative influence on socio-emotional aspects that affect students (Barrow & Heywood-Everett, 2006;Vázquez-Cano, Quero-Gervilla, Díez-Arcón, & Moscoso, 2023).…”

“…Failing to equip students in the early years of education with the basic fundamental competences to interact with digital environments could generate a greater digital divide in the future, with the consequent dangers inherent in the inappropriate use of Internet. The teacher training systems in place for the pre-university setting and the continuous training for practicing teachers both still fail to integrate sufficiently the pathways necessary to guarantee safe, ethical and responsible teaching-learning environments; it is still not clear that students are sufficiently instructed on their journey through the Net on the basis of solid principles of digital sustainability, and which too often is an issue that is only tackled from a general perspective (Napal et al, 2018;Vázquez-Cano & Pascual-Moscoso, 2022).…”