The Appearance of Digital Competence in the Work of Health Sciences Educators

Abstract

The digital competence of health sciences educators is important for the delivery and development of modern education and lifelong learning. The aim of the study was to assess the appearance of digital competence in the work of Finnish health sciences educators and to determine whether educators' background factors are related to the areas of digital competence appearance. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators was used as a theoretical background. The participants were Finnish health sciences educators (n = 388). Data were collected by quantitative survey and statistically analyzed. Results show that health sciences educators had participated in continuing education to develop their expertise and used a variety of digital methods and materials. Educators need more competence to improve healthcare students' ability to use digital technology. In the area of Teaching and Learning, educators younger than 40 years rated the appearance of digital competence as better than did those between the ages of 40 and 49 years. In the future, health sciences educators' basic and continuing education could take into account the competence requirements for digital competence, and educators' expertise must be increased in areas where digital competence does not appear strong.