More than 170,000 teachers from Spain and Portugal responded to the same questionnaire about their use of digital technologies in the classroom. The result is the largest comparative study ever conducted on the Iberian Peninsula on teachers' digital competence, and its findings offer a detailed, and in some respects concerning, portrait of the actual state of technological training among compulsory education teachers.
The instrument used was the DigCompEdu Check-In, a tool developed by the European Commission that assesses six broad areas: from professional engagement with digital tools to the ability to teach students themselves to use technology critically and responsibly.
The data reveal that most teachers in both countries fall at an intermediate level of digital competence, the so-called B1 and B2 levels, which corresponds to a functional but not advanced use of digital tools.
Portuguese teachers scored slightly higher than their Spanish counterparts across nearly all dimensions assessed, yet both share the same weak spot: the ability to develop digital competences in their students (critical literacy, online safety, problem solving) is the area with the lowest scores. In other words, many teachers know how to use technology for themselves, but struggle to teach their students to use it well.
The study also identifies which factors shape a teacher's level of digital competence: gender, age, the educational level they teach, and years of experience are all statistically significant variables. Younger teachers tend to show greater digital fluency, while more experienced educators may need more targeted support.
Faced with this picture, the authors stress that generic training is not enough: professional development programs must be tailored to teachers' real profiles and must foster collaborative spaces for sharing experiences and good practices. Teachers' digital competence is not a technical problem, it is, above all, a pedagogical and educational policy challenge.
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How to Cite: Palacios-Rodríguez, A., Llorente-Cejudo, C., Lucas, M., & Bem-haja, P. (2025). Macroassessment of teachers’ digital competence. DigCompEdu study in Spain and Portugal. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 28(1), 177–196. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.28.1.41379
