Abstract:

The massive presence of digital gadgets and tools has changed our lives, mainly as the result of the Internet technology. The active role played by the Internet user (prosumers according to Toffler, 1979) has provided a new way to connect with knowledge, characterized by new sources of culture and agents of knowledge, new styles of social participation and interaction, and new forms of contents management and creation (Buckingham, 2005; Pisani y Piotet, 2010; López y Angulo 2015).

At a time in which culture is liquid (Bauman, 2006), the educational task becomes more complex and requires a restatement of the educational training and its professional nature. University Degrees on Education have the responsibility to respond to the new ways of teaching and learning which are required by the present digital context (see Ben-Peretz, 2011; Tardif, 2004, 2013).

In general terms, the present project has a two-fold purpose:
a) To know, analyze and understand the digital competences of the students of the Degrees on Primary and Infant Education.
b) To propose teaching strategies to adequate the profile of the future teacher to the requirements of the information and knowledge society.

The current study is a completely new project in the University of Cadiz. Information gathering has been carried out through an online questionnaire addressed to the students of the first and the fourth year of the Degrees on Primary and Infant Education in the University of Cadiz. The sampling included 591 questionnaires out of the 700 enrolled students.

This research instrument aimed to achieve the following objectives:
-To fulfil a diagnosis on the digital competences of the students in order to be able to establish improvement strategies: to analyse the information, consumption and use of technologies, the social communication and knowledge, and the collaborative learning; the information search and processing, and the instructional implications of the use in and with ICTs.
-To know the students’ use habits (times, spaces and aims) of ICTs.
-To know the degree of importance that students give to ICTs command as an instrument for intellectual work and in the teaching and learning processes.
The SPSS has been used for the analysis of the quantitative data; likewise the categorization research has been used for the qualitative or textual data.

References:
[1] Bauman, Z. (2006). Liquid Modernity (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
[2] Ben-Peretz, M. (2011). Teacher knowledge: What is it? How do we uncover it? What are its implications for schooling? Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 3-9.
[3] Buckingham, D. (2005). Media Education: Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture (in Spanish). Barcelona: Paidós.
[4] López, M. & Angulo, J.F. (2015). Sonorona or Digital Culture Rhizome. A Case Study (in Spanish), Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 28(1), 9-33. (http://goo.gl/5u3n14).
[5] Pisani, F. y Piotet, D. (2010). The Alchemy of the Crowds: how the Web is Changing the World. (in Spanish) Barcelona: Paidós.
[6] Tardiff, M. (2004). The Teacher’s Knowledge and their Professional Development. (in Spanish) Madrid: Narcea
[7] Toffler, Alvin (1979). The Third Wave. EEUU: Plaza & Janes.
[8] Tardiff, M. (2013). The Teacher’s Work Nowadays. International Perspectives and Challenges in the Future. In M. Poggi (Coord.). Teaching Policies: Training, work and Professional Development. (pp. 19-44). (in Spanish) Buenos Aires: International Institute for Educational Planning IIPE-Unesco.