Digital teaching skills: Digcompedu checkin as an evolution process from literacy to digital fluency

Abstract

Today we live in an era where real and virtual are ever more intertwined, but also where there is still a long way to go when it comes to integrating digital technologies in educational environments. It is argued, therefore, that it is necessary to understand what it means to be digitally competent and, above all, to realize that this construct includes digital literacy and fluency as stages of an evolving knowledge. In this context, the DigCompEdu CheckIn questionnaire allows teachers to identify their proficiency in the use of digital technologies and to suggest strategies to overcome existing difficulties and achieve what may be considered as digital fluency, that is, not only making use of digital technologies, but to understand when this use is cost effective to achieve the desired goals. This paper presents the preliminary results of a pilot study conducted in a higher education institution as an example of the relevance of DigCompEdu CheckIn as a self-assessment model for determining the digital proficiency stage in which teachers are and what is the appropriate training for them to evolve towards digital fluency. The feedbacks provided by the questionnaire, in addition to identifying the areas where teachers are most fragile, provide suggestions for improvement, allowing the design of specific training that adapts to individual needs. Thus, each teacher, at his own pace, can attend appropriate training, depending on the levels obtained in each of the questionnaire's six areas of competence.