In recent years, technological advances have generated a true digital revolution, creating a new context in which access to information and the use and preparation of that information take place almost immediately and on a global scale. This Information and Knowledge Society (IKS) is bringing change to every aspect of our lives. These transformations make it essential to ensure that citizens are given suitable training in technology(Declaration of Qingdao, 2015; UNESCO, 2017) to guarantee that any new elements of inequality between citizens of the world and between women and men are eliminated and provide the opportunity to generate equality as indicated in the UN’s ‘2030 Sustainable Development Goals’ (UN, 2017).
The education system must take into account these aspects by eliminating various ‘digital gaps’ that exacerbate differences between countries and create enormous inequalities between people. The first digital gap refers to the availability, affordability and accessibility of technological resources and devices. This gap prevents teachers and students from becoming properly prepared, thus widening the developmental differences between countries. The second digital gap refers to the use and appropriation of technologies. This gap is characterized by the lack of skills and knowledge associated with the use of these technologies for our daily lives and, in the case of teachers, for their teaching duties. Finally, the third digital gap, or the gender digital gap, refers to the different concepts and uses of technological resources by women and men (Williams, Kwofie & Fauziatyu, 2017; Gómez-Trigueros, 2021).
All these gaps determine the position of individuals and communities in the world and reinforce the differences between countries, thus generating enormous inequalities between those who are part of this technological development and those who remain on the sidelines.
To overcome these gaps it is essential that teachers are trained not only in pedagogical know-how and the contents of their disciplines (Shulman, 1987) but also in digital competences (INTEF, 2017; OECD, 2020). The most recent contributions to research on teacher training stress the need to adapt curricula to these requirements and promote teaching and learning models that ensure that technologies are sufficiently incorporated into educational processes (McGarr & McDonagh, 2019). In this context, various models of teaching and learning, such as Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge(TPACK) (Koehler & Mishra, 2006; Jordan, 2021), suggest new ways of including technologies in teacher training and student learning processes.
With the existing literature as our starting point, in this issue we will analyze the following key areas:
- The international perspective in relation to the second and third digital gaps in education.
- Measurement of the technical, cognitive and social impact of the digital gap.
- Teaching and learning models that take into account adequate inclusion of technologies in education (TPACK; ITL Logic Model; CoI; MÍTICA; SWIN Model).
- LKT in the competence training of digital citizens of the 21st century.
- Changes to curricula in initial teacher training programs to ensure the correct implementation of technologies in teaching and learning processes.
- Perspectives and challenges in the process to develop the digital competences of teachers in training.
- KTs and the new teaching and learning scenarios. The impact of technologies on traditional and online education.
- SDGs, inclusive education and innovative actions in education that take into account the use of digital technologies and the development of digital competence.
REALIA invites you to submit articles for issue 30 of its scientific journal, which will be published in January 2023 (15–19/01/2023)
Instructions for the submission of articles:
Articles may be written in English, Spanish or Valencian.
The article should be submitted via our website: https://www.uv.es/realia
(Before submitting your article, you must register on the REALIA web site)
Please follow the instructions provided in the Guidelines for submission
All submissions will be subjected to a double-blind peer review process.