ABSTRACT
The present study takes as a starting point the COVID-19 lockdown to which Portuguese and Brazilian schools were confined during 2020, to trace the scenario regarding the training needs of secondary education teachers in terms of digital skills. The research questions seek, firstly, to understand how the transition from face-to-face environments to digital environments was carried out in those countries and, secondly, to assess how to improve digital skills in education when considering a post-pandemic future. The results, obtained from responses by 300 teachers to a questionnaire survey, are in line with the conclusions of the intense research that has been conducted in this area: the COVID-19 pandemic has made teachers' digital training more urgent, and has highlighted the importance of integrating digital environments in education, both as a strategy for the continuity and sustainability of education itself, and as a fluid space that allows the development of practices that enhance quality learning. The analysis also allows us to perceive the differences and similarities in terms of education between two countries that share the same language and have historical proximity, but different socioeconomic indices. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The current pandemic crisis the world is living in has brought new and emerging challenges to teachers, making it essential to acquire digital skills, especially in virtual learning environments and online technologies. In this sense, from the DigCompEdu CheckIn self-assessment questionnaire, validated for the Portuguese population by Dias-Trindade, Moreira, and Nunes (2019), the research presented in this paper aims to identify the most fragile and robust areas of digital skills of primary and secondary education (ISCED) perceived by teachers in Portugal. The quantitative methodological approach emphasizes teachers' perception of their digital skills in three dimensions: teachers’ professional competences, teachers’ pedagogical competences and students' competences and involved 434 teachers from mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions. The results allow us to conclude that teachers have an overall moderate level of digital proficiency – level B1-Integrators – and the dimensions pedagogical competences and students’ competences are those where teachers have more weaknesses than in other levels. From a panorama observed before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible to understand their needs regarding work that involves digital technologies at different moments in the teaching activity. The results thus, show the need for teachers to increase their level of digital competence through specific training and the importance of developing public policies that prepare teachers for a more digital school. © 2021, Eduem - Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringa. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The use of digital technologies in educational environments has been largely discussed in recent years, highlighting the need for adequate training so that its use can provide an effective improvement of educational processes and enhance student learning. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to close their physical doors, the research presented in this work was in progress and aimed to assess the level of digital skills of teachers at the Federal University of Bahia's Reconcavo (UFRB), based on the DigCompEdu self-assessment tool, validated by Dias-Trindade, Moreira and Nunes (2019), to subsequently organize adequate teacher training to meet the needs of the teaching staff of that institution. The pandemic, and the consequent need to invest in quality digital education, accelerated the project's work, and the referred training was duly prepared and adapted to the needs arising from the continuity of distance education. The results of this study showed the weaknesses of the 182 respondent teachers, particularly in the area of learning assessment, leading to the teacher training preparation, already being implemented at UFRB.