TEACHERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

The growing presence of digital technologies in educational contexts has intensified the debate on teachers’ digital competence, understood as the set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for the pedagogical, critical, and ethical use of technologies in the teaching–learning process. In view of the transformations imposed by digital culture, teachers’ professional practice faces new demands that go beyond the technical mastery of tools and require qualified pedagogical mediation, critical reflection, and a commitment to the holistic development of students. In this context, the present study aims to analyze, through a systematic literature review, the theoretical and empirical approaches to teachers’ digital competence, identifying conceptions, challenges, and implications for pedagogical practice and teacher education. Methodologically, this study consists of a qualitative systematic review conducted through the careful selection of scientific articles, books, and official documents published over the last ten years in recognized education databases. The results indicate that teachers’ digital competence is understood as a multidimensional construct involving pedagogical, didactic, ethical, and critical aspects, and that its fragility is mainly associated with gaps in initial and continuing teacher education. It is concluded that the development of teachers’ digital competence is an essential condition for the meaningful integration of technologies in education, requiring consistent training policies and pedagogical practices aligned with the demands of contemporary society.