ICT skills of the higher education teacher: level of knowledge and use

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills of higher education teachers for pedagogical practice, at the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Teacher Training Institute (Asunción, Paraguay). The general objective was to analyse the digital competences of the teaching staff in terms of knowledge and use of ICT, through two specific objectives: to identify teachers' perception of their degree of knowledge in the dimensions linked to ICT competences, and to determine their perception of the characteristics of the use they make of these technologies in their pedagogical practices. The approach is quantitative and the design is non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive. Data were collected through Google Forms, using the Teacher Digital Competence Questionnaire by Tourón et al. (2018), comprising 54 items across five dimensions, applied to a sample of 15 teachers out of a population of 24. The results show moderate knowledge and use of technological tools: the average weighting reaches 62 % for the degree of knowledge and 57 % for the level of use, with higher values in information and information literacy and in digital content creation, and lower values in problem solving. The gap between both indicators suggests a distance between knowledge and its application in the classroom. It is concluded that professional development is needed that addresses not only technological knowledge, but also the confidence to apply it.