Exploring factors influencing pre-service and in-service teachers´ perception of digital competencies in the Chinese region of Anhui

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the wave of digital social transformation worldwide and pushed the “Accelerator Key” for the digital transformation of education in 2020. This transformation has also impacted in an all-around way in China. Taking Anhui province as a case study, this research explores socio-demographic factors influencing the digital competence level of pre- and in-service teachers of primary and secondary education in China. The quantitative methodological approach emphasizes the study subjects’ perception of their digital competencies in three factors: basic technology literacy, technical support learning, and technical support teaching. The study involved 250 pre-service teachers and 248 in-service teachers. The main findings are: (1) participants have good consciousness and attitudes towards using ICT in daily work, but their educational practice is weak; (2) in-service teachers have a digital competence level generally higher than pre-service teachers’, which might be their professional practice promote them to reflect on perceptions and attitudes regarding technological education; (3) for in-service teachers, there are significant differences between their digital competence level and age, years of teaching experience, educational background; (4) current ICT courses have no influencing on in-service teachers’ digital competence level, implying that current ICT training system may have problems. The study provides insights to improve pre-service teachers’ digital competence education in universities and develop well-designed in-service teachers’ ICT training courses.