Relationship between teachers’ digital competence and attitudes towards artificial intelligence in education

Abstract

With the recent integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the educational field, understanding the variables that are related to teacher attitudes towards AI can be crucial for understanding their perspectives in the classroom. That is why the present study aimed to investigate whether Teacher Digital Competence is related to Teacher Attitudes towards AI, and if so, whether this relationship is moderated by the teacher's educational stage, age, sex, years of experience, and field of knowledge. A total of 445 Spanish teachers from primary, secondary, and higher education participated in this study, responding to the Teacher Digital Competence Scale and the Teacher Attitudes towards AI Scale. The results revealed that, regardless of educational stage, sex, age, years of experience or field of knowledge, higher teacher digital competence is associated with a more positive teacher attitude towards AI. Moreover, high levels of willingness to use AI but low levels of personal experience with AI were found. Based on these results, it may be interesting to implement future interventions based on AI to enhance key dimensions of teacher digital competence, such as Information Management, Content Creation, and Problem-Solving. This could improve Teacher Digital Competence and subsequently enhance teachers' perception of using artificial intelligence in the educational context.