Validation of a tool to measure the digital competence of secondary school teachers in initial teacher training

Education has become even more dependent on information and communication technologies (ICT) in today's post-pandemic era, and there is a growing awareness of the need to promote and assess teachers' digital competence. Different techniques and tools have been used to try to measure and assess digital competence, but there is still no specific tool that can measure it among secondary school teachers completing their initial training. The aim of this paper is to validate a tool that is able to objectively assess the digital competence and knowledge of future secondary school teachers. In this paper, therefore, we adapt and validate the existing tool known as COMDID-C, currently used for future primary school teachers. In the first phase, 21 experts in the field worked on adapting the tool to suit secondary education. In a second pilot phase, 667 trainee secondary school teachers completed the test. The reliability analysis yielded ordinal alpha results indicating that the factors are not wholly internally consistent. However, this may be attributed to the fact that the analysis was carried out on the basis of randomised pairs of questions, without the possibility of establishing any other system of equivalence. In any case, bearing in mind the internal consistency, it is clear that the tool's structure is comparable to that of its predecessor. This tool will make it possible to ascertain future teachers' digital competence and reflect on their level of training at the start and at the end. It will also mean we can use this data to design and adapt training plans that improve the acquisition of these digital skills.