The article examines an experience of training and assessing competences related to digital inclusion in initial teacher education. The initiative was carried out within the dual degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education at Universitat Rovira i Virgili using a service-learning methodology, with the participation of 34 university students, 22 practising teachers from seven schools, and five university lecturers.
The students worked alongside the schools to design inclusive digital teaching materials, while assessment was conducted from different perspectives using a rubric and questionnaires based on the COMDID framework.
One of the most striking findings is the difference between how students perceive themselves and how external evaluators assess their competence. Students tend to rate themselves systematically higher than university lecturers do, while practising teachers usually fall somewhere in between. The differences are significant in four of the five descriptors analysed.
The study therefore shows that self-assessment, while useful, may provide an overly optimistic view, and that incorporating different perspectives can lead to a richer and more objective assessment of complex competences such as digital inclusion.
The experience also highlights the value of connecting university-based teacher education with real school contexts. Service-learning makes it possible to apply knowledge about digital competence and inclusion to concrete situations, while the involvement of practising teachers brings a professional perspective that is difficult to reproduce within the university alone.
The authors conclude that digital inclusion should be addressed from the early stages of teacher education and through practical experiences specifically designed to develop this competence. After the intervention, the students reached an intermediate level of digital inclusion, above the initial level required by the end of their degree.
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How to Cite: Sanz-Benito, I., Lázaro-Cantabrana, J. L., Grimalt-Álvaro, C., & Usart-Rodríguez, M. (2023). Training and Assessing Competences in Higher Education: An Experience on Digital Inclusion. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 26(2), 199–217. https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.26.2.35791
