Digital Literacy Skills and Extent of Engagement on Digital Classroom Tools of General Education Teachers in an Inclusive Setting

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational research was conducted to examine general education teachers' digital literacy skills in an inclusive classroom setting and their level of engagement with digital classroom tools. This study included a detailed description of the respondents' profile in terms of age and gender, civil status, highest educational attainment, field of specialization, years in teaching, number of digital technology seminars/trainings attended, years using computers, and the type of LSENs in class. A survey questionnaire was used to assess the degree of digital literacy skills of the respondents and their extent of engagement with the use of advanced digital classroom tools. Frequency count, percentage, weighted mean, standard deviation, and one-way analysis of variance were used to treat the data gathered. The test of a significant relationship between the demographic profile of the respondents and their degree of digital literacy was tested at a 0.05 level of significance. Likewise, a test of significant difference between digital literacy and the extent of engagement in the use of advanced digital classroom tools when grouped according to the type of LSENs handled was also subjected to a similar level of significance. Findings revealed that teachers were highly literate in terms of digital literacy, but they needed to improve their engagement in the use of advanced digital classroom tools, as they were only found to be moderately interested in using these tools. It was also revealed that teachers, regardless of their civil status, field of specialization, gender, highest educational attainment, or the type of learners with special educational needs, expressed an interest in dealing with the technology that was employed in their lessons. All teachers have maximized the use of digital literacy skills, regardless of the number of LSENs they have in their class. An action plan was made to improve the digital skills of teachers, especially those with LSENs in their classrooms. This plan will be used in Dasmarinas, Silang, and the whole Cavite School Division in the province of Cavite in the Philippines.