Teachers' digital competence. The case of the University System of Galicia

ORIGINAL JOURNAL OF NEW APPROACHES IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 2023, VOL. 12, NO. 1, 62-76, e-ISSN: 2254-7339 https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 Received2022-05-09 Revised2022-05-23 Accepted2022-06-07 Published2023-01-15 CorrespondingAuthor CarmenFernández-Morante, [email protected] FacultaddeCienciasdela Educación,RúaProfesorVicente FraizAndónS/N.CampusVida, 15782SantiagodeCompostela, Spain. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.7821/ naer.2023.1.1139 Pages: 62-76 Distributedunder CCBY-NC4.0 Copyright: ©TheAuthor(s) Teachers' Digital Competence. The Case of the University System of Galicia CarmenFernández-Morante ,BeatrizCebreiroLópez ,LorenaCasal-Otero andFrancisco MarequeLeón University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain ABSTRACT The digital teaching competence of university professors is of vital importance to improving the quality of higher education, and for the strategic positioning of public universities in our country. The purpose of this study is to find out the level of digital competence of Galician university professors, as well as to identify whether there are significant variable-based differences. To this end, a non-experimental design with a descriptive approach and hypothesis contrast is proposed. The sample studied is made up of a total of 610 teachers from the three public universities of Galicia (Spain), who responded to the DigCompEdu Check-In instrument adapted to the Spanish context (Cabero-Almenara & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2020). In general terms, the results show a medium-low level and the existence of significant differences depending on the age, recruitment profile and area of knowledge of the teaching staff. Specifically, the younger teaching and research staff, together with Social and Legal Sciences, have a higher level of competence, whereas tenured teaching and research staff have a lower level of competence with respect to contracted workers. Therefore, training plans should be developed which focus on teaching. Expert advice and personalized methodological support should shift the focus of the intervention radically from technology to teaching. Keywords HIGHER EDUCATION, TEACHERS, TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION, COMPETENCE 1INTRODUCTION Today, teachers’ digital competence (TDC) in higher education has become a matter of growing interest in educational policy and research. This situation is the result of a double circumstance. On the one hand, the European Union considers TDC one of the key competences for the teaching-learning processes in the different European educational systems. On the other hand, COVID-19 has highlighted the limitations and needs regarding teacher training, infrastructures and technological resources that exist in different universities. Digital competence and its development have become one of the main concerns in the university environment (Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & How to cite this article (APA): Fernández-Morante, C., Cebreiro López, B., Casal-Otero, L., & Mareque León, F. (2023). Teachers' Digital Competence. The Case of the University System of Galicia. Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research,12(1),62-76.doi: 10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 62 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021;Rodríguez-Hoyos, Gutiérrez, & Artime, 2021). The current educational scenario in Higher Education requires teachers to possess digital attitudes and skills that allow them to carry out dynamic and adequate, current and innovative work, which transforms and improves teaching-learning processes while making them more flexible. Digital teacher competence can be understood as an evolving competence throughout the professional career of teachers (Padilla-Hernández, Sánchez, & López, 2018), which goes far beyond using digital technologies (Durán, Prendes, & Gutiérrez, 2019). It is a competence that ”teachers must possess to promote effective, inclusive and innovative learning strategies, using digital tools” (Redecker & Punie, 2017, p. 4). It also transcends the individual training of teachers in ICT matters (Casal-Otero, Barreira-Cerqueiras, Mariño-Fernández, & García-Antelo, 2021) and is shaped through the technical domain, the capacity for didactic application of technologies and digital media in teaching-learning processes, inclusion in professional development, and the ability to develop students’ digital competencies (Esteve-Mon, Llopis-Nebot, & Segura, 2020). Although most of the research in digital teaching competence has focused on the pre-university level (Esteve-Mon et al., 2020), there is interesting literature which has furthered the study of the digital teaching competence of university professors (Bond, Marín, Dolch, Bedenlier, & Zawacki-Richter, 2018;Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021; Cabero-Almenara, Guillén-Gámez, Ruiz-Palmero, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021;Gromaz et al., 2007;Padilla-Hernández et al., 2018;Prendes, Gutiérrez, & Martínez, 2018;Rodríguez- Hoyos et al., 2021;Wang, 2021;Zhao, Llorente, Gómez, & Zhao, 2021). The literature reports that most university professors have a basic-intermediate level of digital competence (Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021; Cabero-Almenara, Guillén-Gámez, et al., 2021;Esteve-Mon et al., 2020;Santos-Lorenzo & Martínez-Abad, 2021;Zhao, Llorente, Gómez, & Zhao, 2021), and that their degree of knowledge is higher in the technical than the pedagogical domain (Esteve-Mon et al., 2020;Gromaz et al., 2007;Guillén-Gámez, Mayorga-Fernández, & Contreras-Rosado, 2021;Viñoles-Cosentino, Esteve-Mon, Llopis-Nebot, & Segura, 2021). The areas in which university professors perceive themselves to be more competent are those related to information and data literacy, communication, collaboration and problem solving (Zhao, Llorente, & Gómez, 2021), while they consider that they are less competent in the creation of digital content (Zhao, Llorente, & Gómez, 2021) and security (Trujillo & Flores, 2021). Regarding the relationship between gender and the degree of digital competence, there is no consensus in the scientific literature of recent years (Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021). Consequently, certain studies reveal the existence of significant differences in favor of male university professionals (Grande-De-Prado, Cañón, García-Martín, & Cantón, 2020;Orozco- Cazco, Cabezas-González, Martínez-Abad, & Abaunza, 2020;Zhao, Llorente, Gómez, & Zhao, 2021), while other research does not reveal these gender differences (Basantes- Andrade, Cabezas-González, & Casillas-Martín, 2020;Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021;Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021;Guillén-Gámez, Mayorga-Fernández, & Bravo-Agapito, 2021; JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 63 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence Trujillo & Flores, 2021). It has also been found that there are significant differences among female teachers, depending on age and fields of knowledge (Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021). The research also reveals that there are differences in the level of competence of university professors relative to the area of knowledge to which they belong. Thus, teachers in the areas of Engineering (Orozco-Cazco et al., 2020), Architecture and Legal and Social Sciences (Cabero-Almenara, Guillén-Gámez, et al., 2021) have a higher level of digital competence, whereas teachers in the area of Health Sciences present a lower level of competence (Cabero-Almenara, Guillén-Gámez, et al., 2021;Orozco-Cazco et al., 2020). In terms of age, university professors over 40 years of age score higher in the level of digital competence compared to teachers who are younger (Cabero-Almenara, Guillén-Gámez, et al., 2021). Teaching experience; that is, the number of years in university teaching, also affects the level of digital competence perceived by the teaching staff. Indeed, teachers with less teaching experience, novices, present a higher level of digital competence than their more veteran peers (Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, Gutiérrez-Castillo, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021; Cabero-Almenara, Barroso-Osuna, & Palacios-Rodríguez, 2021), considering themselves better in the areas of communication and collaboration, digital content creation, security and problem solving (Zhao, Llorente, Gómez, & Zhao, 2021). Considering the research carried out so far on the digital competence of university professors, we can observe that it is necessary to continue studying this issue in order to adequately define specific training plans and proposals with an impact on the teacher. This study aims to identify the level of digital competence of university teaching staff in Galicia relative to different variables: gender, university they are affiliated to, age, teaching category and area of knowledge. The Galician university system is made up of three Public Universities (The University of Santiago de Compostela, The University of Vigo and The University of A Coruña) and almost 5000 university professors. Bearing in mind that the training policies of university teaching and research staff are directly linked to the autonomy of each university and to the public policies of each autonomous community, we consider that studying the Galician case can provide complementary and relevant knowledge to case studies that are carried out in other autonomous communities. 2METHODS 2.1 Design The central objective of this research was to assess of the level of competence of the teaching staff in the University System of Galicia (USG) after two decades of implementation of specific training actions for the digitalization of higher education in the three universities. This information should provide a valid reference to identify training needs and guide the design of permanent training plans for the teaching and research staff. Thus, a descriptive crosssectional study was carried out using the survey method (Cohen & Manion, 1990). To this end, an electronic questionnaire based on the DigCompEdu model published by the Joint JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 64 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence Research Centre of the European Commission (Redecker & Punie, 2017) was designed, as it was considered the most appropriate design and represents a current reference framework to assess this competence that is validated and accepted by the member states, and compatible with developments made in our country by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. This model allows us to determine the level of global digital competence, on which we will focus in this article, in addition to the six levels of digital sub-competence related to the areas that make up the instrument and that offer detailed information on the areas of improvement from the x-ray obtained. 2.2 Research Objectives The objectives of this study were: 1. To ascertain the level of digital competence of the university teaching staff of Galicia according to the European DigCompEdu framework. 2. To ascertain and compare the level of digital competence of the university professors in the three Galician universities, attending to different areas of knowledge, classified in age ranges and considering gender. 3. To focus on the global level of TDC of the teaching and research staff of the University System of Galicia (USG) and analyze whether there are differences based on five variables: Gender (O1), Affiliated. 2.3 Sample The population studied is composed of 4,927 teachers belonging to the USG: 1,453 belong to the University of Vigo (UVI), 2,066 to the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and 1,408 to the University of A Coruña (UDC). Of these, 2,602 are civil servants and 2,325 are contract staff. Data source: Sistema Integrado de Información Universitaria (SIIU), data from 2019-2020 The real sample is composed of 610 educators, from a simple random sampling, involving a statistically representative sample with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 3.71%. 2.4 Information Collection Tool The instrument used for data collection was the DigCompEdu Check-in. It was translated, adapted and validated into the Spanish context by Cabero-Almenara and Palacios- Rodríguez (2020). This instrument is composed of 22 questions representing the 6 areas of competence of DigCompEDu. In addition, sociodemographic issues linked to the context and the variables of analysis were incorporated. The TDC questionnaire for the teaching staff of the University System of Galicia was distributed by institutional mail addressed to the deans of the three universities who in turn distributed it among all the teaching staff. The data were collected between the months of February and May 2021. The anonymity of the informants was guaranteed and all teachers were duly informed of the objectives of the study and accepted the confidentiality and data JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 65 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence transfer clause. The research has the approval of the BIOETHICS Committee of the USC. 3RESULTS 51.8% of the participants are men (310) and 48.2% women (300). The average age is 51.43 years, with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 74 years, and with an average of 21.31 years of teaching experience. Regarding universities, 112 teachers belong to the University of A Coruña (UDC), 347 to the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and 151 to the University of Vigo (UVI) according to the following percentages and the distribution of the teaching and research staff among the three universities. Regarding the professional category of the teachers surveyed, 41.8% belong to university teaching bodies and 58.2% are contracted. As for professional categories, Figure 1 shows the participation of Social and Legal Sciences (30.98%), Arts and Humanities (21.80%), Engineering and Architecture (17.54%), Experimental Sciences (15.08%) and Health Sciences (14.59%). Figure 1 Teaching and research staff area of knowledge The average level of perceived digital competence of the teaching and research staff of the USG is 42.30, which corresponds to an Integrator profile B1, representing a medium-low level in the European framework of TDC (Table 1). In order to find out whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence of both tenured and contracted teaching and research staff, the Student’s T test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 66 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence Table 1 Average digital competence of the USG teaching and research staff N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Overall level of TDC 610 .00 87.00 423.066 1.358.774 N valid 610 • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence of the USG’s tenured and contracted teachers. • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence of the USG’s tenured and contracted teachers. The result of the test (sig=.014<.05) indicates that, although both groups are located at an integrative B1 level of competence (Figure 2), there are significant differences in the level of global digital competence of the USG tenured and contracted teachers. The average of contracted teaching and research staff (43.45) is higher than that of tenured professors (40.70). Figure 2 Professional category of the teaching and research staff In order to ascertain whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence of the USG teaching and research staff according to gender, the Student’s T test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence of teachers depending on the gender variable. • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence of teachers depending on the gender variable. JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 67 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence The result of the test (sig=.954>.05) indicates that there are no significant differences depending on gender. Men scored 42.31 and women scored 42.37. It was also interesting to find out whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence between the teaching and research staff of the three universities of the USG. To this end, a one-way ANOVA test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence between the faculties of the three universities of the USG. • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence between the faculties of the three universities of the USG. The result of the test (sig=.001<.05) indicates that there are significant differences in the level of global digital competence between the teaching and research staff of the three universities of the USG (Figure 3). Tukey’s post hoc test finds significant differences between the teaching and research staff of the UDC (46.19) and the USC (40.88) while the teaching and research staff of the UDC display a higher level of competence within the same level B1 Integrator. Figure 3 USG University To ascertain whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence depending on the area of knowledge of the teaching and research staff, a one-way ANOVA test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff in the 5 major areas of knowledge. JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 68 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff in the 5 major areas of knowledge. The result of the test (sig=.016<.05) indicates that there are significant differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on the area of knowledge. Tukey’s post hoc test displays significant differences between the teaching and research staff of Social and Legal Sciences (44.91) and the teaching and research staff of Experimental Sciences (39.53), with the former showing higher levels of digital competence (Figure 4). Figure 4 Teaching and research staff area of knowledge It was also of great interest to find out whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence depending on the age of the teaching and research staff. Therefore, a one-way ANOVA test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on age. • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on age. The result of the test (sig=.004<.05) indicates that there are significant differences in the level of overall digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on age (Figure 5). Tukey’s post hoc test shows significant differences between all defined age groups, significantly decreasing the level of digital competence with the age of the teaching and research staff: 20-30 years (48.18), 31 to 50 years (44.05) and more than 51 years (40.89). JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 69 Fernández-Morante,Carmen;etal. Teachers'Digital Competence Figure 5 Age of the teaching and research staff Finally, and in order to ascertain whether there were significant differences in the level of global competence based on the teaching experience of the teaching and research staff, a one-way ANOVA test was applied, formulating the following hypotheses: • Ho. There are no differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on years of teaching experience. • Ha. There are differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff depending on years of teaching experience. The result of the test (sig=.000<.05) also indicates that there are significant differences in the level of global digital competence of the teaching and research staff based on teaching experience (Figure 6). Tukey’s post hoc test demonstrates significant differences between teachers with less teaching experience (with less than 5 years and between 5 and 20 years of experience) and senior teachers (with more than 30 years of teaching experience). The latter; that is, the teaching and research staff of greater seniority in universities, display a lower level of perceived digital competence: less than 5 years (45.63), between 5 and 20 years (44.47), between 21 and 30 years (41.6) and more than 30 years (38.25). 4DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS This study reports on the degree of digital teaching competence perceived by the teaching staff of the University System of Galicia (Spain); determining their level of competence and revealing the incidence of the variables: university, professional category, gender, area of knowledge, age and teaching experience in relation to that level of competence. JournalofNewApproachesinEducationalResearch,12(1)|2023|https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.1.1139 70