Preservice Teacher's Digital Competence and its Psychological Impact: Input to Technology for Teaching and Learning Course

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the Digital Divide and the issue of Digital Competence, prompting the authors to conduct a study on the digital competence of 209 College of Education Preservice Teachers across year levels and programs enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 at the ESSU-Can-avid Campus, Philippines, using stratified disproportionate random sampling adapted from the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). The basic level of averages of (GM=1.77) and (GM=1.73) was found in all five(5) COED Preservice Teachers' Digital Competence items. When ascertained with demographic variables, it is higher than communication and safety but was found below the Intermediate level's borderline. In terms of gender, female preservice teachers(76.07 percent ,n=159)  dominated to better at communication(t₍₂₀₂₎=-2.150, p< .033) and safety (t₍₂₀₂₎=-1.705, p<.090) only. The dominance from 20-25 years of age(59.8%, SD=1.12) were mostly first-year returnees, and lifelong students (33%,n=69). The effect sizes of  (d=0.024057) as (Cohen's d) calculated established genders' significance of effect size to be true and successful in two categories, contradicting recent studies were mostly male-dominated. Ascertaining with digital competence in area of Information Processing differ according to age(Communication;(t₍₆₎=2.309, p<.035) & (Problem-Solving; (t₍₆₎=2.595, p<.019),  year-level and  program level (t₍₃₎₌2.972,p<.033), and related IT certificates attended/received (Information Processing; (F₍₁₎=5.571, p<.019, η²=0.024),   ( F₍₁₎=2.100, p<.149, η²=0.024), ( F₍₁₎=2.370, p<.125, η²=0.012)”, and Content creation; ( F₍₁₎=6.510, p<.011, η²=0.031), (F₍₁₎=4.4562, p<.067, η²=0.031), and found that female, freshmen COED Preservice Teachers, aged 20-25 are better than male in lower areas of digital competence.

            The CoEd department must rethink these critical digital competencies at the fundamental level by retooling and integrating the Faculty with Digital Competence in Instructions Using Digital Technologies and resolving technically-related problems encountered while using digital media, tools, and devices weighted in the same faculty training.