Digital Content Creation Tools: American University Teachers’ Perception

Abstract

This paper studies the perception of Latin American university teachers about the effectiveness of digital content creation (DCC) tools for the creation of e-learning training actions. For this purpose, the opinions of a group of 564 teachers from different universities in 16 Latin American countries have been collected and their answers have been analyzed according to different sociological and academic characteristics (gender, age, teaching experience, area of knowledge, and academic degree). The results indicate that Latin American university teachers express high levels of digital training and highly value the didactic effectiveness of DCC tools to develop e-learning training actions. This valuation is significantly higher among females than males. Gender is also revealed as the most influential characteristic in the perception of teachers about the use of digital resources in the classroom, above any other aspect.

Influence of Country Digitization Level on Digital Pandemic Stress

“…In addition, the expressed digital competence and the level of adaptation to digital environments are lower the higher the GII of the country of origin (Figure 4). The fact that professors report intermediate levels of digital competence is in line with other work performed on digital skills of professors in the same geographical area, both during the pandemic [48][49][50] and prior to it [51]. According to the Inter-American Development Bank report, university professors in Latin America and the Caribbean identify a lack of digital training and difficulty in accessing technological resources as the main difficulties in the use of digital environments in higher education learning processes [52].…”

Synthesis of Modeling, Visualization, and Programming in GeoGebra as an Effective Approach for Teaching and Learning STEM Topics

“…According to Beardsley et al [73], many teachers believe that their abilities, confidence levels, and proficiency in using digital technology and creating digital content improved with the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. Digital content creation tools have become essential among Latin American university instructors [74]. However, it is worth mentioning that the recognition of the importance of technology as a tool in education is still insufficient.…”

Variables Influencing Professors’ Adaptation to Digital Learning Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In terms of digital skills, teachers sometimes had to apply skills that in most cases they had not had to apply before, such as data processing and protection; communication in digital environments, sharing online resources, connecting and collaborating with other people, reworking content and evaluation tests, developing virtual environments, making artistic productions or multimedia content, computer programming, etc. [ 31 , 32 ].…”

“…On the other hand, other studies analyzed teachers’ perception of their own self-efficacy [ 46 ] and their level of digital competence [ 31 , 47 , 48 ], identifying the need to implement professional development that allows the development of an optimal level of digital competence in the teaching community [ 49 ], as well as the effects that the use of ICT has on teachers [ 50 ] and the future challenges that its implementation implies [ 51 ]. On the other hand, having a low level of digital competence means an increase in perceived stress as well as a reduction in teachers’ motivation [ 33 , 52 ].…”