Digital skills and ethical knowledge of teachers with TPACK in higher education - Research Article

Oct 15, 2026

This research analyzes the professional ethical knowledge of teachers when using technologies during teacher training. Grounded in the TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge) model, it aims to verify how correctly technologies are integrated into classrooms. A descriptive exploratory design uses a Likert-scale questionnaire and personal interviews. Instruments cover self-perceived professional ethical knowledge, ethical knowledge of technology, and related pedagogical and disciplinary dimensions, with data from 1,051 trainee teachers and interviews with 822 students in a COVID-19 context.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

TPACK Model and Teacher Digital Skills

Ethics of Technologies in the Classroom

OPEN ACCESS Research Article Contemporary Educational Technology, 2023, 15(2), ep406 ISSN: 1309-517X (Online) Digital skills and ethical knowledge of teachers with TPACK in higher education Isabel María Gómez-Trigueros 1* 0000-0003-4666-5035 1 University of Alicante, Alicante, SPAIN * Corresponding author: [isabel.gomez@ua.es](isabel.gomez@ua.es) Citation: Gómez-Trigueros, I., M. (2023) . Digital skills and ethical knowledge of teachers with TPACK in higher education. Contemporary Educational Technology, 15(2), ep406. [https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/12874](https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/12874) ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT | Received: 26 Nov 2022
Accepted: 1 Jan 2023 | This paper analyzes the professional ethical knowledge of teachers in the use of technologies by teachers in training. Based on the disciplinary pedagogical technological knowledge (TPACK) model, it is intended to measure the correct inclusion of technologies in the classroom. For this, a descriptive exploratory methodological design study was carried out. The instruments used have been the Likert scale questionnaire and the personal interview, organized into four dimensions in which the self-perception of professional ethical knowledge, ethical knowledge of technology, pedagogical technological ethical knowledge and disciplinary technological ethical knowledge of the future teachers. The questionnaire has been applied to a sample of 1.051 trainee teachers from a European university in the context of COVID-19 and 822 students participated in the interview.
The results show the scarce training in professional ethical knowledge of teachers in training and the importance of addressing this knowledge in the 21st century, a post-pandemic context. Another of the conclusions is the need to include the ethical component in the TPACK model to achieve a correct and ethical use of digital resources in the classroom.
Keywords: professional ethics, teaching digital competence, technology, teachers in training, TPACK | | --- | --- | | INTRODUCTION | | World Health Organization (WHO) classified the outbreak of the disease caused by the new virus of the coronaviridae family known internationally as COVID-19 in March 2020 as a global pandemic (WHO, 2020) . It was a public emergency, in view of the rapid evolution of infections on a national and international scale. The international health authorities prepared a guide as a strategic plan for preparation and response to the pandemic. This document included the necessary guidelines to act in the generalized state of alarm. These indications were subsequently updated, incorporating others aimed at alleviating humanitarian, social, economic and educational problems. Schools were forced to move from face-to-face education to distance education based, almost exclusively, on the inclusion of technologies as learning tools. This situation has given rise to the fact that the two key elements of teaching and learning process (T-LP), students and teachers, have verified the negative consequences of little or no interaction between them, which has endangered the formation of citizenship, as well as the importance of ethical aspects in the educational process. TPACK Model and Teacher Digital Skills The adaptation to virtual teaching has been different in relation to the educational level. Universities are the educational institutions that have suffered the least from face-to-face education to virtual education, but this transformation has not been the same for all of them or for all of its members. Some universities had digital platforms before the pandemic. These universities used these digital resources as a complement to traditional face-to-face teaching (Zhu & Liu, 2020). Other universities had to try to be able to adapt to the new 100% virtual situation (Gómez-Trigueros et al., 2021) . There is no doubt that this pandemic has generated an innovative movement in education, helping to find educatio

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To analyze teachers’ professional ethical knowledge in the use of technologies during teacher training, based on the TPACK model.

How were data collected and what areas were measured?

Using a Likert-scale questionnaire and personal interviews, organized into four dimensions covering self-perception of professional ethical knowledge and ethical knowledge of technology, pedagogical technological ethics, and disciplinary technological ethics.

What key findings and conclusions are reported?

Training in professional ethical knowledge among trainee teachers is scarce, and the study emphasizes adding an ethical component to the TPACK model for correct and ethical use of digital resources, especially in a post-pandemic context.

Oct 15, 2026

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