Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review
Rural teachers have the potential to be important agents of local development. To achieve this goal, they need to acquire high digital competence in order to effectively integrate technology into their pedagogical practices, thus enriching the learning experience of students and fostering their part...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/15/1/5 |
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| author | Pablo Fernández-Arias María Sánchez-Jiménez Álvaro Antón-Sancho María Nieto-Sobrino Diego Vergara |
| author_facet | Pablo Fernández-Arias María Sánchez-Jiménez Álvaro Antón-Sancho María Nieto-Sobrino Diego Vergara |
| author_sort | Pablo Fernández-Arias |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rural teachers have the potential to be important agents of local development. To achieve this goal, they need to acquire high digital competence in order to effectively integrate technology into their pedagogical practices, thus enriching the learning experience of students and fostering their participation. Digital competence contributes to reducing the education gap between urban and rural areas, promoting educational equity and inclusion. High digital competence also enables rural teachers to address the specific challenges of their environment, such as cultural diversity, scarce resources, and low population density. Against this backdrop, this article presents a bibliometric review of the importance of digital competence in rural teachers in Spain, where the problem of rural depopulation, as in other regions of Europe, has been accentuated in recent years. The objective of the bibliometric review is both (i) to find the strengths and weaknesses that concern researchers in relation to the digital training of teachers in rural areas and (ii) to express them explicitly in order to contribute to propose solutions. The results reveal the growing academic and political attention being paid to this issue, highlighting the need for rural teachers to acquire digital skills to adapt to current educational demands. In addition, they point to the importance of developing specific policies and programs in Europe as well as providing training opportunities and ongoing support to ensure that teachers in rural contexts can acquire or strengthen their digital competence, thereby improving the quality of education in these areas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7e13f297b8f483cb7357c9c0d56a979 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2174-8144 2254-9625 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-c7e13f297b8f483cb7357c9c0d56a9792025-01-24T13:30:39ZengMDPI AGEuropean Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education2174-81442254-96252025-01-01151510.3390/ejihpe15010005Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric ReviewPablo Fernández-Arias0María Sánchez-Jiménez1Álvaro Antón-Sancho2María Nieto-Sobrino3Diego Vergara4Technology, Instruction and Design in Engineering and Education Research Group (TiDEE.rg), Catholic University of Ávila, C/Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainTechnology, Instruction and Design in Engineering and Education Research Group (TiDEE.rg), Catholic University of Ávila, C/Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainTechnology, Instruction and Design in Engineering and Education Research Group (TiDEE.rg), Catholic University of Ávila, C/Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainTechnology, Instruction and Design in Engineering and Education Research Group (TiDEE.rg), Catholic University of Ávila, C/Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainTechnology, Instruction and Design in Engineering and Education Research Group (TiDEE.rg), Catholic University of Ávila, C/Canteros s/n, 05005 Ávila, SpainRural teachers have the potential to be important agents of local development. To achieve this goal, they need to acquire high digital competence in order to effectively integrate technology into their pedagogical practices, thus enriching the learning experience of students and fostering their participation. Digital competence contributes to reducing the education gap between urban and rural areas, promoting educational equity and inclusion. High digital competence also enables rural teachers to address the specific challenges of their environment, such as cultural diversity, scarce resources, and low population density. Against this backdrop, this article presents a bibliometric review of the importance of digital competence in rural teachers in Spain, where the problem of rural depopulation, as in other regions of Europe, has been accentuated in recent years. The objective of the bibliometric review is both (i) to find the strengths and weaknesses that concern researchers in relation to the digital training of teachers in rural areas and (ii) to express them explicitly in order to contribute to propose solutions. The results reveal the growing academic and political attention being paid to this issue, highlighting the need for rural teachers to acquire digital skills to adapt to current educational demands. In addition, they point to the importance of developing specific policies and programs in Europe as well as providing training opportunities and ongoing support to ensure that teachers in rural contexts can acquire or strengthen their digital competence, thereby improving the quality of education in these areas.https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/15/1/5depopulationteachersdigital competencelocal developmentbibliometric reviewrural schools |
| spellingShingle | Pablo Fernández-Arias María Sánchez-Jiménez Álvaro Antón-Sancho María Nieto-Sobrino Diego Vergara Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education depopulation teachers digital competence local development bibliometric review rural schools |
| title | Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review |
| title_full | Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review |
| title_fullStr | Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review |
| title_short | Digital Competence of Rural Teachers in Depopulated Regions of Spain: A Bibliometric Review |
| title_sort | digital competence of rural teachers in depopulated regions of spain a bibliometric review |
| topic | depopulation teachers digital competence local development bibliometric review rural schools |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/15/1/5 |
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