Digital pedagogy as both content and methodology in in-service teachers training Results of a large-scale needs assessment

Abstract

The digital transformation poses new challenges for in-service teacher training, and responding to changing needs is essential for the future of training. Based on previous surveys, teachers would mostly require the development of methodological and pedagogical competencies (Nikitscher, 2016), many of which partly overlap with the development of digital competencies (Czékmán-Fehér, 2017; Dringó-Horváth, 2012, 2020). Our research focuses on the latter area: it examines the preferences of teachers regarding the topic and the dates of the trainings, as well as their attitudes toward online elements. Also there is special emphasis on trainings about digital competencies. The survey was conducted in early 2020, data were collected through a self-developed, online questionnaire, participants (N = 334) were primary- and secondary school teachers. Based on the results, it can be stated that teachers are open to trainings related to digital technologies, both in terms of the content of the trainings, but especially in terms of its methodology (i.e. blended-learning): the number of those who prefer in-person training decreases in parallel with the length of the training. Their openness to blended learning was not influenced by their gender or age, but the determining factors included the subject taught by the respondents and the distance of their hometown from Budapest. In the case of blended-type courses, the preferred training period became wider thus including months at the beginning and ending of school period as well as months during summer. Participants from rural areas judged that they received more support from their institution than those from large cities or from the capital. Regarding the training fee, it can be observed that the respondents expect the training fee to decrease if it is partly or fully online.