While the increasing use of digital information and communication technologies has led to the use of new ways of teaching and learning in education, it has forced academic staff to acquire digital competencies to catch up with the era and achieve success. Digital technologies in education pave the way for new pedagogical approaches that encourage active learning. Digital technologies in higher education institutions are used for many purposes such as developing interactive course materials, sharing content, creating presentations and courses, academic research, and student registration. Teaching and learning approaches using digital technologies (e-learning, blended learning and mobile learning) can improve the quality of teaching and learning process and contribute, at least as a complement to other type of approaches, to the quality of education. In this context, it is important to adopt and correctly use digital technologies in higher education institutions. In addition to these benefits, there are some difficulties such as high cost, socioeconomic and technological conditions, digital competence of students and academic staff, technical and administrative support as well as infrastructure (1-2).  

The use of digital technologies in education is gradual and different depending on the predisposition and skills of academic staff. Although distance education and related digital technologies have been used all over the world for a long time, online education has been actively involved in life all over the world and at all educational levels, with the Covid 19 pandemic. Nowadays, a hybrid and blended education model that combines face-to-face learning and online education has been widely adopted in all universities, especially in departments that provide practical education. Therefore, it is not only students' good use of technology, but also the role of academic staff at this stage is very important. The importance of having various technical resources and qualified academic staff is indispensable for a successful and quality education. The competencies of effective educators in discipline, pedagogy and technology come to the fore, while others argue that the adequacy of more complex approaches such as safety and ethics should be considered holistically to increase productivity. The European Commission defines digital competence as information, communication, content creation, security and problem solving. UNESCO, which focuses among other things on education, considers it important to strengthen teachers' technological knowledge over the next few decades. Research shows that digital competence for pedagogical purposes prior to COVID was still poorly integrated in some universities (3).

The aim of this study is to assess the digital teaching competencies of academic staff and to explore current situation across six universities in six countries.

A quantitative research design was used in this descriptive study in six countries (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey). This study is a part of the Digital and Hybrid Teaching and Learning of Practical Skills in Higher Education (DITEPRACT) project funded by the European Union Erasmus + KA2 (number: 2020-1-FI01-KA226-HE-092515). Convenience sampling was used and included 306 academic staff in different departments during the academic year 2019–2020. The survey consisted of demographic and descriptive characteristics of the participants including academic title, gender, age, duration of teaching experience, time to use digital technologies, digital tools used for learning. Besides, European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) questionnaire was used to determine the digital competencies of academic staff. The questionnaire comprised 22 items organized in six sections (4-5). Participants' data collected online by Google Forms.

The average age of the participants was 46.69 ± 11.72 years (range 25 -78); 80.4% were female, 26.5% were professors, and 82% were living in a European Countries. The average teaching experience in higher education was 14.57±10.26 (range 1-56) and using digital technologies in teaching was 10.72±7.56 years. Main profile of the students they teach was undergraduate (n=260, %85) and graduate master (n=152, %49.7). Digital tools used for teaching were presentations (n=300, 98.0%); digital posters, mindmaps, planning tools (n=133, 43,5%); watching videos / listening to audios (n=283, 92.5%); digital quizzes or polls (n=170, 55.6%); blogs or wikis (n=29, 9.5%); creating videos / audios (n=152, 49.7%); online/virtual learning environments (n=232, 75.8%); and online communication tools (n=295, 96.4%). Digital technologies for teaching provided by the university were learning management system or virtual learning environment (n=246, %80.4); student enrolement and grading system (n=246, %80.4); asynchronous communication tools (n=276, %90.2); synchronous communication tools (n=294, %96.1); and online or electronic measurement and evaluation systems (n=179, %58.5). Having advanced or field-specific digital technology for teaching were augmented/virtual reality tools or environments (n=76, %24.8); simulations (n=127, %41.5); software or applications for specific tasks (n=171, %55.9); and special institutional membership for certain online collections / databases (n=165, %53.9). The competences of academic staff were determined as follows; newcomer (n=3, %1,0); explorer (n=33, %10.8); integrator (n=135, %44.1); expert (n=91, %29,7); leader (n=42, %13.7); and pioneer (n=2, %0.7). Age, years of using digital technology in teaching, the work environment support, having experience in teaching an online course before the COVID-19 impacted digital competencies of the academic staff (p<0.05). Academic staff were using digital technologies in various contexts and purposes and were able to integrate them into many applications. However, they need further support to use a range of digital technologies confidently, creatively and critically to become more digitally fluent.

1.Núñez-Canal, Margarita, de Obesso, Mª de las Mercedes and Pérez-Rivero, Carlos Alberto, (2022), New challenges in higher education: A study of the digital competence of educators in Covid times, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, issue C, number S0040162521007046. 2.Tulinayo, F., Ssentume, P. & Najjuma, R. Digital technologies in resource constrained higher institutions of learning: a study on students’ acceptance and usability. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 15, 36 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0117-y 3.Dias-Trindade, Sara & Moreira, J. António & Ferreira, António. (2020). Assessment of university teachers on their digital competences. 15. 50-69. 10.30557/QW000025. 4.Ferrari, A. (2013). DIGCOMP : a framework for developing and understanding digital competence in Europe . 10.2788/52966. 5.REDECKER, C. (2017). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators:DigCompEdu. In: Punie, Y. (ed). EUR 28775 EN. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. http://dx.doi.org/10.2760/159770