TEACHER TRAINING AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES – DEVELOPING DIGITAL COMPETENCE FOR THE CRITICAL AND INCLUSIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION

Abstract

Given the massive presence of technologies in school settings, it has become evident that the ways of teaching and learning have undergone profound transformations. Educational platforms, virtual environments, artificial intelligence, social networks, and mobile devices permeate school culture, generating tensions but also opening paths toward more collaborative, interactive, and inclusive practices. However, these possibilities do not emerge automatically. Without critical reflection, the use of technologies may reproduce inequalities, reinforce logics of control and surveillance, and distance teachers and students from genuinely meaningful formative experiences. Therefore, it is essential to discuss teacher education aimed at developing digital competence, understood not merely as operational mastery of tools, but as the ability to think pedagogically with technology. Continuous, situated, and dialogical training – capable of articulating technical aspects with pedagogical, ethical, cultural, and political dimensions – strengthens teachers as authors of their practice rather than mere executors of pre-packaged platforms. Thus, technology ceases to be an instrument of standardization and becomes a device for creating more autonomous, creative, and democratic learning processes. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze how teacher education can foster the development of a critical and inclusive digital competence, strengthening experiences that broaden student participation, respect diversity, and deepen the quality of learning. In this sense, the guiding question is: to what extent does teacher education contribute to building a digital competence that enables the critical, ethical, and inclusive use of technologies in contemporary education? Theoretically, this study draws on the works of Freire (1992; 2013; 2014), Zuboff (1995; 2004; 2019), Ball (1994; 2005; 2007; 2008), Apple (1999; 2006; 2008; 2011; 2012; 2019), Selwyn (2012), Gentili; Apple; Frigotto; Albe (1999), Carr (2010), Castells; Cardoso (2005; 2011), Buckingham (2010; 2013), Tingstad (2010), Santos et al. (2024), among others. The research is qualitative in nature (Minayo, 2008), descriptive and bibliographic (Gil, 2007), with an analytical-comprehensive orientation (Weber, 1949). The findings show that teacher education, when understood as a continuous and critical practice, enhances teacher autonomy in relation to digital technologies and supports intentional pedagogical uses. It was found that digital competence requires integrating technical, ethical, and political dimensions, promoting inclusive practices attentive to social inequalities. The study also observed that training programs incorporating accessibility, universal design, and assistive technologies strengthen democratic learning environments. Likewise, experiences based on authorship, experimentation, and collaboration expand teacher creativity and resignify the use of technologies. Thus, well-designed training allows technology to become a mediator of participation and learning.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/edimpacto2025.092-049