Assessing Teacher Digital Competence. An analysis integrating descriptive, inferential, and multivariate perspectives

The holistic development of educators is of paramount importance for the successful integration of technological innovations into the curriculum, which will ultimately facilitate learners' progression through their educational journey. The construct of teaching digital competence (TDC) is instrumental within the realm of tertiary education, fostering both the pedagogical advancement of educators and the digital literacy of students. This research, which was undertaken at the Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo (UNACH) in Ecuador, employs the COMDID-A theoretical framework to examine the manifestation of digital competence (DC) among its faculty members. The study uses a descriptive-correlational method with a cross-sectional, non-experimental design and subjects selected probabilistically in the second half of the 2022 academic year. The integrity of the research was ensured through the application of rigorous reliability and validity assessments. The outcomes of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed a commendable model fit, discerning four pivotal factors that explain 65 % of the variance and coincide with the dimensions delineated in the model. Only 39 % of the faculty sample surpassed the median level of TDC, with significant interdimensional correlations underscoring the pivotal role of the academic department and discipline. A correlation with doctoral qualifications suggests that advanced educational attainment fosters the enrichment of advanced TDC. The absence of significant correlations between educators' field of knowledge, employment status and time investment further illustrate the complexity of TDC development. A linear model analysis suggests a perceptual bias, rating adjunct faculty members as possessing superior competences compared to their tenured counterparts. These findings emphasize the crucial need for concerted competence development endeavors to increase the level of mastery in digital technologies (DT) within educational settings.