Changes in university teachers’ digital teaching competence as a respond to COVID

ENThe present transformations and challenges that Knowledge Society demands, as well as the main implications that Information and Communication Technologies have over higher education, universities and especially over professional development of teachers of this educational level, have a deep impact not only on their professional profile, functions and roles, but also, on their training and professional competences and skills. However, little attention has been paid to the analysis of digital teaching competence of academic staff in higher education institutions in Lithuania. The amount of training has been underemphasized even though the high quality education is a prerequisite for the institution to survive in the competition between the universities. The COVID-19 emergency has caused the rapid shift towards the necessity of distance teaching. This shift has required quick respond from the university teachers – they were obliged to change their usual teaching practices and switch to on-line methods. The current study is specifically sought to capture these rapid changes in digital teaching competence of university teachers in Lithuania before and during the emergency. The implications of the study would help providing the paths for further professional development of digital teaching competence. Keywords: higher education, academic staff/university teachers, digital teaching competence, COVID-19 crisis. [From the publication]