Differential Analysis of the Years of Experience of Higher Education Teachers, their Digital Competence and use of Digital Resources: Comparative Research Methods

Abstract

This study compares the level of digital competence of Spanish higher education teachers in the use of three types of ICT resources in the classroom: digital tools to consume information, digital tools to produce information, and emerging technologies. To measure the level of competence, the validated DigCompEdu Check-In instrument with an ex post facto design is used. The sample consists of 2180 university teachers from Andalusia (Spain) working in different areas of knowledge: Arts and Humanities, Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering and Architecture, Social and Legal Sciences; and classified into three levels of teaching experience: between 0–5 years, 6–14 years, and 15 years or more. The results show that teachers with 15 or more years of experience represent the group with the most significant differences in regard to their level of digital competence when comparing the use of the three types of ICT resources; furthermore, the results were similar for all areas of knowledge. In addition, the visualization or creation of videos, as well as the visualization or creation of posters and concept maps, are the resources that were found to be most significant for the three levels of experience. For each specific area, it is recommended that each of their results is analysed in detail. Finally, further research is recommended to validate these preliminary findings in each of the knowledge areas.