The digital competence of academics in Spain: a study based on the European frameworks DigCompEdu and OpenEdu

In the field of higher education, the improvement of teaching digital competence becomes a fundamental element for the institutions themselves to be able to continue carrying out their main mission in the current social context. In order to achieve this ambitious challenge, this study, fruit of the joint work between the JRC and CRUE, analyses the level of teaching digital competence perceived by the teaching staff of the Spanish University System. To carry out this study, a questionnaire was designed for teaching staff based on the DigCompEdu and OpenEdu frameworks developed by the JRC, and 5073 lecturers from 51 different universities were surveyed. The main conclusions are that the perceived median level of teaching digital competence is at a B2 level, with B1 being the most frequent, and that, of the different variables analysed, age is the one that shows the greatest differences in the levels of self-perception, with no significant differences depending on the professional category, dedication or gender. The need for personalised training to further improve digital competence among teaching staff has also been identified. To this end, it is very important that the Autonomous Communities allocate sufficient funding for universities to be able to develop these actions, as well as continuing collaboration between CRUE, the Ministry of Universities and the European Commission.