Digital Teaching Competence among Teachers of Different Educational Stages in Spain

Abstract

The new educational reality requires teachers to have skills and competencies to improve the teaching-learning process and, therefore, the quality of teaching, integrating new technologies. To assess the competence level of teachers, a descriptive study was designed, in which 150 teachers from different stages in Spain took part and were administered the DigCompEdu Check-in questionnaire. Non-probabilistic (purposive) sampling was used. The results show an intermediate level of competence among teachers at all the educational stages surveyed. However, this level varies according to the stage at which they work, with secondary education, vocational training, GCE and university teachers standing out the most in the fields of competence analysed using the questionnaire. Different proposals for improvement are proposed too, as well as the existing coincidences with previous studies; furthermore, the need for training from the beginning of teacher preparation is highlighted, as well as the need for continuous training for active teachers to optimise the potential offered by the new technologies, also is very important that taking on challenges such as the correct communication trough technologies, the use and creation of digital content or the protection and security of online data, among others.