Professional Development for Teaching in the Digital Age: Addressing Teachers’ Digital Competency

The purpose of this study was to identify teachers’ digital skills proficiency gaps in order to determine preparedness for teaching in the digital age. Using a survey research design helped identify teachers’ digital skills self-confidence, attitudes towards the use of technology in the classroom, and current uses of technology for instructional purposes. The participants in this research study consisted of 320 middle school teachers from a border school district in south Texas. The data was collected using a survey instrument consisting of the TPSA C-21 and researcher-developed items. The data was analyzed using the Spearman-rank order correlation to describe the correlational relationships between the variables of digital skills, technology use, and attitudes. Findings indicated no statistically significant differences in attitudes, technology use, or self-confidence based on the subject area taught or years of experience, but there were differences based on age. In addition, the correlational analysis revealed statistically significant relationships between attitudes, self-confidence in digital skills, and technology use. While teachers used technology to plan and deliver instruction frequently, there were fewer student opportunities to use technology to create and collaborate using digital tools. Both attitudes and self-confidence guided teachers’ use of technology. The more strongly educators disagreed with technology’s benefits, the less they used it. In addition, the less self-confidence they had in digital skills, the higher the non-use of technology. Teachers ‘value and ability beliefs (Vongkulluksn et al., 2018) influenced technology use. The results supported prior research findings that attitudes and self-efficacy influence the use of technology. Furthermore, the findings indicated gaps in teachers’ digital skills self-confidence that must be addressed through differentiated and scaffolded professional development utilizing the Technology Professional Development Model (TPDM) designed with adult learning principles to ensure the transformation of pedagogical practices with technology