Research Article
Olga V. Sergeeva, Marina R. Zheltukhina, Zhanna M. Sizova, Alfia M. Ishmuradova, Oleg V. Khlusyanov, Elena P. Kalashnikova
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 2, Article No: ep500
ABSTRACT
It is essential for pre-service teachers to hold positive beliefs about information and communication technology (ICT) and possess digital skills to integrate digital technology successfully into the teaching and learning environments. Although numerous studies have examined teachers’ attitudes toward ICT, little research has examined teachers’ ICT competency beliefs. This research aimed to explore pre-service teachers’ ICT competence beliefs. We used an instrument developed by previous researchers for data collection. The results showed that the pre-service teachers had good ICT competence beliefs. A few gender differences were found between participants’ mean scores on six dimensions of the data collection instrument. No gender differences were found for many items. It was found that there were no significant differences in the years of study of participants across five different grade levels. However, the lowest mean scores were found in analyzing and reflecting, problem-solving, and information and data literacy. Conversely, the highest mean scores were detected in communication and collaboration, digital content creation, and safety and security. Based on these findings, recommendations have been made for practice and future research.
Keywords: ICT competence beliefs, digital skills, pre-service teachers, information and communication technology, ICT
Research Article
Fatima K. Urakova, Izida I. Ishmuradova, Nataliia A. Kondakchian, Roza Sh. Akhmadieva, Julia V. Torkunova, Irina N. Meshkova, Nikolay A. Mashkin
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 15, Issue 1, Article No: ep398
ABSTRACT
Learning in the digital age is a pervasive idea that encompasses all aspects of a person's life, including work and leisure. As a result of the development of new teaching and learning tools, an increasing number of students are acquiring knowledge on the Internet- connected to the Internet. Therefore, all citizens must develop digital literacy as a lifelong learning skill. Studies have been conducted on students' digital skills in higher education institutions. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the skills of college students. The participants were students from a university in the Kazan region of Russia who volunteered to participate. Three hundred and eighty students completed the questionnaire online. The scale consists of a total of 25 questions and six dimensions. Since our independent variables are binary values, we applied the Bayesian t-test. We obtained the values of the Bayes factor (BF10) for each dimension and the total scale. In general, students' digital skills are well-developed. However, it was found that creating and using digital information requires fewer skills than in other areas. The hypothesis that there is no difference based on student gender was supported to a higher degree but not to a very high degree. The hypothesis that there is no difference based on students' fields of study was supported to a greater extent, but only to a moderate extent.
Keywords: digital skills, higher education, Bayesian analysis, Russia
Review Article
Barry Matthews
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 13, Issue 4, Article No: ep317
ABSTRACT
Introduction: To meet the ambition of the UK becoming the global leader in health technology, the future workforce needs to have a developed digital literacy. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the move to online learning has also increased the requirement for a reinvention of traditional teaching methodologies (Sá & Serpa, 2020).
Methodology: A systematic review was conducted using a mix of Boolean search terms in twelve education and health journal databases to discover the extent of current international research of digital literacy in health programmes. Papers were selected for their specificity to digital literacy in health education pre-registration professional programmes.
Results: The initial search included 5359 papers, 3925 after duplicates removed, 134 remained after title review which were then input into Covidence for full reading, finally 47 papers being included for thematic analysis. This thematic analysis identified a number of key themes within these papers: digital literacy of the educator, digital literate workforce, technical skills limit adoption, information literacy, a curriculum requirement in education, institutional infrastructure or personal access, preparedness for entering academia, concerns over the use of digital skills, personalised digital literacy experience, increased communication skills with digital literacies, competency frameworks, COVID-19 and social media in education.
Conclusion: This research identifies areas of good practice and areas that need to be considered in higher education programmes and by academics to ensure the digital literacy of the future healthcare workforce.
Keywords: health education, digital literacy, digital skills, technology enhanced teaching, health care, higher education