ICT and Media competencies of teachers. Convergence towards an integrated MIL-ICT model

Abstract

This paper describes teachers' perceptions of their ICT and media competencies, and the importance they assign to these competencies in teacher training. A questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument based on UNESCO's proposals on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and MIL (Media and Information Literacy). A total of 402 teachers and pre-service teachers took part in the questionnaire. This is an exploratory cross-sectional study where quantitative descriptive and correlational methodology is used. Findings reveal that the self-perceived competence of teachers is low and that the self-perceived level is always lower than the importance given to the corresponding competence. Greater importance is assigned to MIL competencies than to ICT competencies of teachers; this questions the tendency to prioritize technological and didactic training over media education training. It concludes with the need for a paradigm shift towards convergence in teacher training policies for the digital age, and a global model of teacher competencies in media and ICT (COMPROMETIC) is proposed that integrates MIL competencies with those of ICT teachers. The model is based on a double convergence: that of different literacies, and that of the resulting multi-literacy with the specific training of education professionals in ICT and media.