Tools for assessing teacher digital literacy: a review

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of technology, digital literacy has become a key component in educators’ professional development. A wide range of assessment tools has been developed to measure teacher digital literacy; however, there has been no previous attempt to systematically synthesize and scrutinize those tools to improve evaluation of this ability among educators. The current study reviews literature on instruments that assess teacher digital literacy with the purposes of ascertaining the main aspects of it that recent researchers focus on in their evaluation, instrument types used for assessment, and the reliability and validity report, as well as the frameworks or models used to design assessment tools. The review selected 33 English-language publications in the field of educational technology from peer-reviewed journals indexed in the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Web of Science, and Scopus. The study period spanned from 2011 to 2022 with the objective of reviewing the tools used to assess teacher digital competence. The major findings demonstrate that scholars focus on digital competence in teachers’ use of educational technology, teaching and learning, professional development, and support for learners through digital competence. Other researchers emphasize the ability of educators to apply technology to the assessment of learner outcomes or to empower students in using technology to enhance learning. Additionally, self-evaluation instruments are common, whereas a few studies promote subjective evaluation in combination with objective assessment to provide a comprehensive understanding of teacher digital competence. The results form the basis for several recommendations for future research for the further examination of teacher digital literacy.