Engl. transl.: Competence of future teachers in the digital security area

The use of technologies and the Internet poses problems and risks related to digital security. This article presents the results of a study on the evaluation of the digital competence of future teachers in the DigCompEdu European framework. 317 undergraduate students from Spain and Portugal answered a questionnaire with 59 items, validated by experts, in order to assess the level and predominant competence profile in initial training (including knowledge, uses and interactions and attitudinal patterns). The results show that 47% of the participants belong to the profile of teachers at medium digital risk, evidencing habitual practices that involve risks such as sharing information and digital content inappropriately, not using strong passwords, and ignoring concepts such as identity, digital “footprint” and digital reputation. The average valuations of each item in the seven categories show that future teachers have an average competence in the area of digital security. They have good attitudes toward security but less knowledge and fewer skills and practices related to the safe and responsible use of the Internet. Future lines of work are proposed, aimed at responding to the demand for a better prepared and more digitally competent citizenry. The demand for education in security, privacy and digital identity is becoming increasingly important, and these elements form an essential part of initial training.

Results of this study show the need for in-depth research on teaching digital safety, as well as for the promotion and inclusion of content on safety in university curricula. The authors address four specific topics that they consider crucial for training the future professionals: "rules for online communication and behavior (netiquette), measures and protocols to prevent risks on the Internet and to care for physical and mental health, concepts related to digital safety (reputation, identity, digital divide, and fingerprint), personal data protection in the field of education, and secure protection of devices and password creation" (Gallego-Arrufat et al., 2019: 61). The authors also address the need of further research, pointing out that "researching the impact of training on matters of safety for external practices, initial training, and professional practice; and establishing how to teach and evaluate this area of competence beyond the preservice teacher’s mere self-perception" (Gallego-Arrufat et al., 2019: 61).