Validation and pilot study of a scale for assessing faculty digital security competence in educational institutions using a PLSSEM approach

Given the current challenges and issues, such as the risks and threats inherent in the use of the internet and smart devices, it is essential to be competent in digital security and behave ethically in digital environments. Therefore, the study aimed to design and validate the COSEDI instrument based on the European Framework for Digital Competence for Citizens (DigComp). To achieve this, an analysis based on structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was conducted, employing a non-experimental and quantitative methodology. The representative sample consisted of 497 teachers from the public education system in Andalusia, with a pilot study involving 60 teachers, who were excluded from the final analysis. The results demonstrate the validity and reliability of the instrument by illustrating the causal relationships between the constructs of data and privacy protection, device protection, environmental protection, and health and well-being protection. This is further supported by the inclusion of observed variables, as evidenced by the values of factor loadings and significance. Thus, the model supports the idea that the four latent variables influence each other, with the relationship between data and privacy protection and device protection being the strongest and most significant, while the weakest relationship is observed between the protection of personal data and environmental protection.