This note comes from the “Interuniversity proposal of initial training of teachers in digital technologies” (www.fimted.cat), selected in the competition for research aid for the improvement in initial teacher training of the Generalitat de Cataluña (2015 ARMIF 00027).

On this occasion, and as continuity to the work presented the previous year at the same conference, we show the first proposal produced and agreed by the members of the project, belonging to eleven public and private Catalan universities.

The project is developed in the following context: (1) teacher training students are not receiving suitable training regarding digital technologies (Aguaded-Gómez, 2009, Tabicas, Guitert and Rubia, 2009; Herrada and Herrada, 2011; Losada, Valverde and Correa, 2012; Sancho, Bosco, Alonso and Sánchez, 2015); (2) digital technologies are treated and implemented very differently in the study plans of the different Catalan universities; and (3) the creation of the Interdepartmental Project of Teacher Digital (PICDD) of the Education Department (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2016) in which a series of teacher digital competences is set (CDD), agreed by the Catalan universities.

The main aim of the project is to produce an interuniversity proposal that takes into account: (1) previous research in this subject; (2) the competences established by the PICDD of the Education Department;  (3) the study plans and subjects linked to digital technologies of the teacher training degrees within nine Catalan universities; and (4) the practice carried out in the diverse educational centres with the aim of discovering the training needs linked to digital technologies.

The proposal prepared is focused on three main actions: 1) a specific treatment, the aim of which is for the study plans of the teacher training degrees to include a mandatory module of specific CDD training, of at least six credits, that each university could organise in one or more subjects that they work on in an integrated way.  2) an integrated treatment, incorporating the descriptors of the CDD in the different modules of the study plans: basic training, specific didactics, practices and end of degree project; and 3) an in-depth treatment, which consists of the universities providing a mention in Digital Technologies, or alternatively one or several optional subjects, articulated around the dimensions and descriptors of the CDD.

The specific CDD module proposes to focus along three lines: 1) New training scenarios with use of ICT, focused on the formation of emerging methodologies where digital technologies play an important role; 2) Network communication and collaboration; 3) Critical and ethical digital attitude linked to digital citizenship, digital identity, author’s rights and security in the network.

In the first stage of the project an analysis was undertaken of the presence of CDD in the teaching plans and programmes of the different subjects of the teacher training degrees and a revision of the research related to the subject in question. In the second stage three discussion groups were formed, made up of three collectives: (1) teachers’ associations; (2) active teachers; and (3) teacher training students from nine Catalan universities. In this stage, fundamental competences were identified for initial teacher training in relation to digital technologies and priority actions were included for the development of the CDD in the teacher training degrees. Complementarily, a survey was carried out in which participants were asked to prioritise the dimensions and descriptors of the CDD, of which 1,524 answers were obtained (1,051 from teachers and 473 from students). In the third stage a first proposal was produced taking into account the results of the first and second stages of the project. In the fourth stage the teaching staff and the academic heads of the Catalan universities and of the Education Department of the Catalan Government were informed of the proposal, with the aim of making possible the improvement of the proposal and articulating its application. This stage will end with the diffusion of the process and the results among the educational community.

The analysis of the teaching plans and programmes of the mandatory subjects reveals that only six of the twenty-five descriptors of the CDD are present in all the Catalan universities that teach the Primary School Teacher Training degree. In Infant Education, the number of descriptors is reduced to four. These results show: (1) that the CDD has an unequal treatment in the study plans of the universities; and (2) that in the teacher training degree studies there are shortages in relation to the CDD. In relation to the discussion groups, in the associations there was a consensus for the need: (1) to incorporate a mandatory subject of new training scenarios and emerging methodologies; (2) to have a bearing on the evolution and possibilities of Digital Technologies; (3) to underline the importance of collaboration and the critical spirit before Digital Technologies; and (4) reformulate the practices and evaluate the CDD in the end of degree projects. The teachers’ group underlined: (1) the need to naturalise technology in teacher training; (2) being aware that methodology is important, but also knowledge of the tools; and (3) strengthening the capacity to create, work in groups and be active in the networks. In the student group the following needs emerged: (1) to incorporate an initial mandatory subject; (2) to seek a balance between theory and practice; and (3) link the initial training to the reality of the schools. Finally, from the data collected by the survey in which the participants were asked to prioritise the dimensions and descriptors of the CDD, the three dimensions most prioritised are: 1) Communication and collaboration; 2) Professional development; 3) Digital ethics and civic behaviour.

Aguaded, I. (2009). Miopía en los nuevos planes de formación de maestros en España: ¿Docentes analógicos o digitales? Comunicar, 33, 7‐8. Generalitat de Catalunya (2016) Resolució ENS/1356/2016, de 23 de maig, per la qual es dona publicitat a la definició de la Competència digital docent. Herrada, R. & Herrada, G. (2011). Adaptación de los estudios de magisterio al EEES: Las TIC en los nuevos planes de estudio. Edutec-e. Revista electrónica de Tecnología Educativa, 36. Losada, D., Valverde, J. & Correa, J. M. (2012). La tecnología educativa en la universidad pública española. PixelBit: Revista de medios y educación, 41, 133-148. Sancho, J. M., Bosco, A., Alonso, C. & Sánchez, J. A. (2015). Formación del profesorado en Tecnología Educativa: de cómo las realidades generan los mitos. Revista Latinoamericana de Tecnología Educativa, 14(1), 17-29.