A survey coordinated by Unicamp in partnership with Metared, a collaborative network of universities promoting digital transformation, assessed the level of digital skills of teachers in 66 higher education institutions in Brazil. At Unicamp, where there was the greatest participation of teachers in the assessment, the investigation showed that 71% of teachers have an intermediate level of digital skills. The research also indicates that around a third of teachers at the University use a diverse range of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for teaching activities.
The study was carried out using a questionnaire idealized by Joint Research Center, European Union research center, in which teachers were invited to carry out a self-assessment around 22 indicators related to digital skills. Applied in 66 Brazilian higher education institutions between October and November 2020, the research was conducted by Unicamp, through the Educational Technologies Management Group (GGTE), linked to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies. Each institution received the report with its results in February this year.
For the GGTE coordinator, professor Marco Antonio Garcia de Carvalho, the results are of great importance as they provide subsidies that indicate the characteristics of teachers with regard to digital tools and, thus, help to think about ways of improvement. The teacher highlights that assessment refers both to the use of tools and development of skills and to the way in which the teacher stimulates and motivates his colleagues and students. “It brings a complete panorama and brings elements for the development of internal policies”, he explains.
Panorama at Unicamp
261 teachers responded to the survey at Unicamp, representing little more than 14% of the category universe. The main results, as highlighted by the GGTE coordinator, refer to the fact that most teachers have already surpassed the basic level of digital skills. A total of 71% are at the intermediate level and around 4% at the advanced level, a stage that means ability to use varied digital resources and reflection on pedagogical strategies.
“This is very significant data and demonstrates the work that has been carried out since the late 1990s and early 2000s, when it was decided to use TelEduc and virtual learning environments linked to undergraduate and postgraduate subjects", points out Marco Antonio. “It is work that encourages and suggests the use of virtual environments to monitor subjects, whether as a repository or as an evaluation and communication environment. This work, carried out a long time ago, took us from the level of the initial block”, evaluate.
Another fact highlighted by the teacher is the fact that around 30% of teachers use a variety of ICTs in teaching. “This is in line with what we wrote on Unicamp’s digital teaching support page about assessment, about flexibility, about varying instruments. So we are very satisfied with this number and this corroborates other indicators, such as that almost 40% of teachers know how to use tools to systematically improve teaching”, he indicates, also pointing out that the word “systematically” effectively denotes that progress has already been made. initial level of digital skills.
Furthermore, highlights Marco, more than 45% of teachers use more elements than just a presentation, in Power Point for example, which is generally a standard of use.
Points to be improved
Regarding the skills that still need to be improved, one of the points that draws the GGTE coordinator's attention refers to the interaction between fellow teachers. When asked if they work collaboratively, using shared folders, for example, 40% say they have this type of relationship with colleagues. When asked if they exchange ideas and materials with colleagues, less than 35% say yes. “So around 65% do not have this practice of talking to their own colleagues, of sharing ideas, and this impoverishes the teaching and learning dynamics”, says Marco Antônio. Furthermore, only 11% of teachers create materials together.
For the teacher, the transition to remote teaching brought significant losses in terms of interaction between colleagues, with the absence of conversations in the corridors and classrooms, for example. “All conversations have become virtual and there is an extra inertia to go to this environment. It's as if we were a one-man army, self-sufficient. This part would be a point to be worked on more in teaching activities”.
To boost this interaction, in Unicamp's EA² Teaching and Learning Support Space, a body that aims to improve teaching at the University, there has already been an initiative to hold virtual conversation circles. In this space, teachers can share experiences about what went right or wrong in a subject, among other experiences. Strengthening initiatives like this, says the professor, are paths that can be followed to encourage professional collaboration.
The EA² coordinator, professor Soely Polydoro, also highlights the development of a community of practices on educational technologies since the pandemic period. O project brings together a group of teachers interested in discussing the use of educational technologies to improve the teaching and learning process and teacher professional development. The first cycle of this community ended in April 2021, and new cycles will be opened soon.
Educational technologies: supporting role
Educational technologies, according to the EA² coordinator, can play an important supporting role for innovative teaching centered on student learning. Since 2018, GGTE and EA² have developed a series of training courses in this field. “Educational technologies have a very important support condition, but by themselves they do not resolve the issue. They need to be inserted within a pedagogical proposal, a teaching and learning concept, forming part of this broad process of a training project”, she indicates.
Despite having expanded use during remote teaching, these technologies, says Soely, are important not only during the pandemic, but also in the face-to-face context. "O The use of digital educational technologies is not just for the moment and suspension of in-person activities. These are tools and strategies used in the development of in-person teaching and learning”.
Research can help with teacher training policies
With the analysis of the data brought by the research, analyzes the EA² coordinator, it is possible to visualize different aspects and dimensions of digital skills and think about training for areas in which teachers have less mastery. “With the research, we have information about which areas, which aspects and which dimensions of skills we should invest in training. This research offers us important conditions for the teacher training process.”
The development of internal policies, he indicates, can be thought of with a more detailed analysis of the results, which were also sent to the Unicamp Institutional Observatory (HIU). The Metared-Unicamp research, says Soely, provides a broad overview of digital skills, the instrument of which can be applied systematically and analyzed together with data obtained by the research “Unicamp and the coronavirus”, for example, which was conducted by the OIU. “Looking at teachers’ responses there and looking at the responses on this instrument can be quite important. This way we will not only have isolated collection, but also combined with other measures and other information so that we can always bring what we propose as training as close as possible to what is actually of interest to teachers".
The teacher also highlights that, after answering the survey, each teacher received individualized feedback. In the document, in addition to indicating the level at which they were, with a general interpretation of the answers, the teacher also received instructions for improving their skills. "This way, the teacher not only provided information, but also received feedback on his perception and had immediate guidance", says Soely.
