First-year Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Digital Technologies and Their Digital Literacy, Efficacy, Attitude, and Online Learning Engagement: Implication for Course Design

Ensuring quality education for all students requires teachers to possess knowledge and skills in utilising digital technologies effectively for teaching and learning. This study explored how pre-service teachers (PSTs) perceive their digital attitude, efficacy, literacy, engagement, and understanding of digital technologies in an online learning environment. The study employed a mixed-methods research approach. A survey comprising Likert Scale questions and demographic information was administered to 110 PSTs from a regional university. Descriptive statistics were employed to investigate the relationship between PSTs' understanding of digital technologies and their attitude, literacy, self-efficacy, and learning engagement in online learning. To illustrate the frequently used words in participants' definitions of digital technologies, a 'word cloud' representation was utilised, accompanied by quantitative weightings of key terms. The study revealed significant connections between PST self-efficacy and their attitudes toward digital technologies, digital literacies, and learner engagement. Notably, most of the PSTs exhibited narrower definitions of digital technologies than anticipated. The implications of these findings for course design are discussed, emphasising the need to address PSTs' perceptions of digital technologies, foster their self-efficacy, and enhance their digital literacy and engagement in online learning environments. Understanding these factors can lead to more effective integration of digital technologies in teacher education program courses, ultimately preparing future teachers for digital-age classrooms.