Development and validation of the DIGIGLO, a tool for assessing the digital competence of educators

Abstract Educators must be able to adapt to the opportunities provided by information and communication technologies, making use of those which are best suited to meeting their students' needs and identifying areas of practice in which they themselves need to develop their skills. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) proposes 22 basic competences, organised into six areas, which educators should ideally acquire. The present study seeks to build on this Framework by developing and validating an assessment tool that considers a total of eight areas: the six areas covered by DigCompEdu and two new areas corresponding to extrinsic factors in the digital competence of educators. The latter refers specifically to the digital resources and support services that are available to educators in their working environment. A total of 509 teacher educators from across Spain and Latin America completed the 29‐item DIGIGLO questionnaire. Analysis of the Spanish language instrument's construct validity and psychometric properties showed it to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing the digital competence of educators across the eight areas considered. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic Educators must be able to adapt (habituate) to the opportunities provided by information and communication technologies. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) proposes 22 basic competences, organised into six areas, which educators should ideally acquire. The speed with which digital technology is developing means that educators need to keep track of their own digital skills. What this paper adds We develop and validate an instrument for assessing educators' digital competence (the DIGIGLO) that considers external factors not included within the DigCompEdu. These external factors refer to the digital resources and support services that are available to educators in their working environment. The total score on the 29‐item questionnaire provides a measure of educators' overall digital competence across eight different areas. Implications for practice and/or policy The DIGIGLO is a brief and easy‐to‐use tool for assessing the digital competence of educators, a key issue in the educational field today. It extends the scope of the DigCompEdu Framework by including two further areas of digital competence (digital environment and extrinsic digital engagement). Application of the instrument can provide individual educators and their institutions with useful feedback about both strengths and areas in need of improvement with regard to the use of digital technology in teaching .