Attitudes Towards using Digital Technologies in Education as an Important Factor in Developing Digital Competence: The Case of Slovenian Student Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine what attitudes specifically Slove-nian student teachers hold towards using digital technologies in education, their self-reported proficiency in using digital technologies in education and to what extent their attitudes towards using digital technologies in education predict their self-reported proficiency in using digital technologies. We measured the attitudes towards using digital technologies in education through four dimensions: Teaching and learning, Assessment and critical thinking, Empowering learners and Facilitating learner’s digital competence. Self-reported proficiency in using digital technology was measured on four groups of digital technologies: Digital resources, Communication tools, Digi-tal tools and Online learning tools. The results show that Slovenian student teachers predominantly hold positive attitudes towards using digital technol-ogies in education, but they assess themselves as low-level users. Also, the student teachers’ attitudes towards using digital technologies in education were proved as an important predictor of their level of proficiency in using digital technologies.