Teacher knowledge and skills in digital and distance education. A reflection for training

Abstract

This work intends to articulate the study and scientific research, in order to generate theories consistent with the educational practice and technical procedures put into action for the purpose of greater consistency, quality and, therefore, credibility to non-face-to-face educational formats. Thus, we discuss a brief delimitation on the different parameters of knowledge in the educational field, to propose afterwards, by looking into their relationships, the commitments and skills that teachers of this modality -above all those in higher educational levels- should integrate into their professional knowledge. Consequently, the four most relevant aspects of knowledge in education -scientific, theoretical, technical and practical knowledge, and the intersections between them- are described leading to the commitments and skills of higher education teachers who work in non-face-to-face educational formats. We conclude that these commitments would be of a professional, ethical, formative, collaborative and management nature. In this framework, the areas of teaching skills covering these four aspects would be included: a) subject competence (subject or discipline taught), b) pedagogical competence (methodology, communication, tutoring, evaluation, etc.), c) technological competence (applied to the subject, pedagogy and research), and d) research and innovation competence (applied, in turn, to the epistemological, pedagogical and technological fields). In sum, a holistic reflection on teacher training.