Page 189 - International Perspectives on Effective Teaching and Learning in Digital Education

University Faculty Digital Literacy and Technology Integration

Within one of the university’s projects – Green, Digital & Inclusive – qualita-
tive research (Klančar et al., 3) about university faculty’s needs in the field
of development of (pedagogical) digital competencies was conducted. Data
was collected through departmental discussions and individual annual per-
formance interviews (with the dean or the head of the department).
The departmental discussions showed that faculty and associates have a
positive attitude towards the use of digital technologies (DT) in education.
They recognize the importance of training for the appropriate use of DT in
the pedagogical process and research and they also emphasize the impor-
tance of a critical approach to the use of digital technology in education. The
use of digital technology in the pedagogical process varies depending on the
member institution and department, the field of study, the available infra-
structure, and the competence of the instructors.
Participants also identified the risks associated with the use of digital tech-
nology as the weakest of the four areas (teaching and learning using digital
technologies; use and creation of digital content; communication and col-
laboration using digital technologies; risks associated with the use of digital
technologies), followed by the area of use and creation of digital content.
In addition to identifying weak areas, participants also provided sugges-
tions for training, which have been divided into four categories:

1. Online safety and intellectual property protection
. Digital technologies for didactic support of learning and teaching
3. Digital technologies for supporting organizational processes and com-
munication
4. Digital technologies for supporting research work

We received reports from 5 faculties where 131 annual performance inter-
views were held altogether.
The analysis of the reports confirms the departmental discussions’ findings
regarding weak areas. Regarding the use and creation of digital content, the
weakest sub-area is ‘programming,’ where most users (83.7%) showed a low
level (up to 4%) of competence development. In the field of risks associated
with the use of digital technologies, three weak sub-areas were detected. De-
vice protection, digital identity management, and online behaviour (where
5%, 38%, and 31% of users achieve a low level of digital competence). Com-
munication and collaboration using digital technologies further exhibited
two weak sub-areas. Almost half (49%) of the participants expressed a low
level of digital competence development in online collaboration, and 39%

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