Promoting teacher training with digital technologies on pre-service teachers’ digital competence development in India an experimental study

Abstract

Digital transformation worldwide is shaping the design and delivery of education. It is, therefore, urgent and necessary to prepare pre-service teachers in India to integrate technology into pedagogy effectively. However, teacher education programs do not provide structured practice-based models to develop comprehensive digital teaching competence. To fill this gap, the present study has examined the effect of a formal digital training program on pre-service teachers’ perceived digital teaching competence. The study employed a convergent mixed-methods design involving 244 participants who completed the pre- and post-intervention surveys, with a subsample of 20 participants being interviewed semi-structurally following a 12-week intervention. The program training consisted of LMS platforms, augmented reality (AR), and educational data dashboards. Quantitatively, participants reported significant positive changes across all measured constructs: technology attitudes, operational skills, ethics, and, most notably, data literacy —the key predictor of digital teaching competence. Qualitative data substantiated these findings, identifying contextualized hands-on practice, collaborative peer learning, and institutional support as crucial in overcoming early difficulties. This study presents a scalable, context-sensitive model for Indian teacher education programs, recommending that curricula integrate data literacy and digital pedagogy to prepare future teachers for 21st -century classrooms.