Comparative research in the digital competence of the pre-service education teacher: face-to-face vs blended education and gender

To evaluate the digital competence of pre-service teacher, three sub-scales must be considered: attitude, knowledge and use. However, the degree of acquisition may vary depending on different variables. The main objective of this research is to find out the level of digital competence of university students based on these three sub-scales, and, as secondary objectives, to find out whether any differences exist in relation to students’ educational modality and gender. A non-experimental design has been used (ex post facto) with a sample of 675 students from the Pontifical University of Salamanca. The results revealed that the level of digital competence of the pre-service education teacher is medium, with no significant differences in gender. However, differences were found in the Blended-Learning modality.