The efficacy of a web-based methodology on English teachers’ digital competence in Colombia

Abstract

Digital competency is becoming a priority in teachers’ professional development. This article assessed the efficacy of a web-based methodology on English teachers’ digital competence through a 200-hour course. This didactic methodology consists of eight learning moments that alternate between online and offline instruction and are based on solid theoretical foundations. The results of the six areas and 22 competencies of the DigCompEdu framework are compared between an entry and exit test in a group of 47 English teachers who were part of the web-based didactic design implementation. Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software R version 4.2.2. The Likert package version 1.3.5 and the ggplot2 package version 3.4.0 were used to generate graphs and descriptive statistics. The Stats package version 4.2.2 was used to perform the Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon comparison tests. This analysis demonstrated that the effects of the designed methodology on teachers’ digital competence development are highly significant. Teacher-learners advanced in areas of the DigCompEdu related to students’ digital competence. The areas with fewer improvements were where teacher-learners scored higher in the pre-test. “Self-regulated learning,” “accessibility and inclusion,” and “communication and collaboration” competencies reached the highest difference when comparing the pre-and post-tests. Teachers struggle more with learning during offline moments. The Web-based methodology becomes an innovative proposal for training English teachers to incorporate technology to develop language skills.