Developing Educator-Specific Digital Competences With Serious Game Design

Introduction

As digital technology evolves and changes all aspects of our lives, its role in education becomes increasingly important (Raja & Nagasrumani, 2018; Singh, 2021). Numerous studies have demonstrated that the proper use of digital technologies in the learning process can significantly enhance student engagement, personalize learning, provide access to information, facilitate collaborative learning, and increase flexibility (Resta & Laferrière, 2007; Ng, 2015; Pinto & Leite, 2020; Schmid et al., 2022). The use of digital technologies in the learning process has many benefits, but it also places a significant responsibility on teachers to ensure that these technologies are integrated effectively (Sarker et al., 2019). Today's students have grown up with the constant presence of digital technologies, but this does not mean that they are equipped with the appropriate skills to use them effectively and consciously (Redecker, 2017). The teacher's job is to provide students with the digital literacy skills needed to succeed in 21st century society. However, this is not just about acquiring knowledge of how to use a particular piece of software. Rather, it's about developing critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and learning strategies that enable students to adapt to the fast-paced and ever-evolving digital landscape (Ester van Laar et al., 2017). These are challenges that only a properly trained teacher will be able to address (Ramírez-Montoya et al., 2017). Therefore, it is critical that student teachers acquire the skills necessary to integrate digital technologies into the learning process, while also knowing how to teach digital literacy to their students (Instefjord & Munthe, 2017).

There are several theoretical frameworks that define digital competences (Kelentrić et al., 2018), but for teachers the set of competences is different than for others because it focuses on how to use digital technology in an educational context (Røkenes & Krumsvik, 2014). The competency framework that addresses this aspect is DigCompEdu, as it focuses on the knowledge, skills and attitudes for the use of digital technologies in education (Redecker, 2017; Ghomi & Redecker, 2019). It defines six competency areas: professional engagement, digital resources, teaching and learning, assessment, and empowering learners, and offers explanations of how and in what areas of pedagogical practice the integration of technology and learning can be applied (Ghomi & Redecker, 2019).

Despite the overall quality of the competency framework offered by DigCompEdu, experience shows that teachers face many constraints that make it difficult for them to use digital technologies. The OECD report points out that teacher education programs do not provide practical knowledge about the technology-enhanced pedagogical process and consequently do not provide prospective teachers with the necessary qualifications and skills to use digital technologies in the classroom (OECD, 2017). This problem is also highlighted by other authors (Krumsvik, 2014) who note that teachers leave teacher pre-training programs without having acquired the appropriate digital competencies. They also point to the mismatch between the skill mastery requirements of their teaching profession and the training they received as part of their education. This is particularly problematic as research shows that the digital competencies teachers acquire during their studies influence the way they will use digital technologies in their work (Agyei & Voogt, 2011).