Future teachers facing the use of technology for inclusion: A view from the digital competence

Educ Inf Technol (Dordr). 2022 May 27:1-19. doi: 10.1007/s10639-022-11105-5. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Technologies provide a differential value to the training process, allowing for the generation of new environments, methodologies and resources that make it possible to attend to students in a more appropriate way. This potential is especially relevant in matters of inclusion, where technology is sometimes an indispensable element for learning. In this paper we explore the main advantages of the use of technology for the attention to diversity, taking into consideration the level of digital competence of future teachers and their perceptions regarding its use for the implementation of inclusive strategies. The results suggest that participants have an intermediate level of digital competence, with differences according to gender, age and degree. It is also remarkable that they perceive inclusion as one of the main challenges of the education system and that technology can contribute to making teaching practice more inclusive, allowing it to be adapted to specific needs and highlighting the importance of teacher training in both digital competence and inclusion as an educational principle.

Keywords: Attention to diversity; Digital competence; Inclusion; Teacher training; Technologies.