An Analysis of Barriers and Facilitators for the Development of Digital Competencies of Engineering Students

OECD has established that adults should have the necessary skills and competencies to solve problems and perform complex tasks in "technology-rich environments". This would mean considering not only basic competencies, but also higher-order skills needed to use information, evaluate information critically, and use it to solve problems. A key concept in the present proposal is related to Digital Competence (hereafter DC). Ferrari et al. Define DC as the: "the set of knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, strategies and awareness that is required when using ICT and digital media to perform tasks; solve problems; communicate; manage information; behave in an ethical and responsible way; collaborate; create and share content and knowledge for work, leisure, participation, learning, socializing, empowerment and consumerism" [4]. The general objective of this research was to analyze the characteristics of the DCs of students pursuing engineering and related careers in a private institution of VET, recognizing barriers and facilitators that intervene in the development of DCs. The results obtained are an approximation to DC and the perceptions of Chilean students from a VET institution of it. They allow the authors also, to identify various aspects of the online learning experience in the context of the global pandemic and new needs to be corrected by teachers and university authorities in the design and implementation of OL in VET context.