Empowering future educators: digital literacy competence and preservice teachers practices in middle schools of Pakistan

Digital literacy competence (DLC) is crucial for preservice teachers who want to incorporate technology in the middle school classroom. In a reconceptualization of the quantitative study, the researchers surveyed 600 preservice teachers in Pakistan to analyse their perceived and actual DLC in basic (e.g., word processing) and advanced (e.g., LMS, collaborative platforms) areas. Findings indicate that the confidence level with fundamental digital skills is high (mean 3.9/5). In contrast, there is a marked decrease in the self-efficacy of innovative pedagogical tools (mean 3.5/5), pointing towards a competence gap. T-tests show that prior DLC training substantially affects the practicalification (p = .006), or, in other words, prior DLC training is practical. Based on the Social Cognitive Theory by Bandura, we determine a conceptual framework of the connections between motivation, self-efficacy, the alignment of the context, gap diagnosis, and the continuous rethinking of the DLC. The study suggests that the respective teacher education programs require further development of DLC training, and preservice teachers adopt certain practices that enable them to acquire and develop their digital skills. Explicit efforts are meant to adapt to the needs of 21st-century educational practice so that future teachers should be ready for online and initial teaching competencies.