Abstract:

From the studies and classroom experiences that were analysed and executed in recent years, we can affirm that the mere introduction of technological tools in classrooms and educational institutions, is not enough for the paradigm shift that learning requires, in accordance with a sociocultural context constantly in transformation and permeated with ever more complex technologies. For our students to present and develop the digital skills, that are necessary in today’s society, a competent teacher is required. For this reason, teachers require good technical and pedagogical training on the use of technological tools. The main idea of our research has been that competences in the technical and pedagogical use of digital tools, demonstrated by teachers, promote the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) in the classroom and the change in methodology used. We conducted a non-experimental, ex post-facto study with a no probabilistic sampling. A survey was conducted on a population of 640 teachers from a professional technical higher education institution in Chile. Among the notable results, we see that for teachers to incorporate digital tools into educational practice, their didactic abilities of these tools are more significant than their technical abilities. Considering that teaching staff recognise having greater technical than didactic abilities of digital tools, their greater use of VLE to complete administrative and management tasks is understood. This suggests the need to establish teacher-training plans to incorporate them into teaching. These plans must go beyond merely training on how to use the tools and reach other dimensions, preferably the didactic dimension.

Keywords:

Higher education, LMS, digital competences, teaching competences.