The Digital Teacher: The TPACK Framework for Teacher Training

Introduction

The world has been going through a paradigm shift dominated by digitalization, the trigger of diverse transformations in education as in every field. In particular, the unanticipated rapid and multidimensional development and spread of technology forced the transformation of the teaching and learning processes and all the stakeholders, such as students, teachers, school leaders, and policymakers. To identify the transformation in terms of technology and education, it is necessary to understand how Education 1.0 transformed into Education 4.0 and what factors became active and effective in classes. Education 1.0 took place between the 1960s and 1990s, and computers were primarily one-directional in the education system (Heinze & Jeschke, 2014). In this period, a teacher-centered system was adopted using traditional approaches, but technology was not used in the classroom. Teachers were the absolute leaders with knowledge. In Education 2.0, Web 2.0 technologies appeared during the 2000s, and websites were popular where they described the shift as “the great democratization of the Web” (Keser & Semerci, 2019, p. 41). In Education 2.0, technology and social networking were used in the classroom, and the roles of teachers and students changed from teacher- to student-centered. Teachers were in the role of orchestrator. Education 3.0 gained ground in the 2010s, and virtual learning appeared following the popularity of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC; Heinze & Jeschke, 2014) and the focus on educational design (Dobozy & Cameron, 2018). In this period, the student-centered approach was dominant in the classroom. Traditional classrooms disappeared, and teachers became regarded as facilitators. Education 4.0 is the period where digital transformation with all forms of automation are used for educational purposes (Hong & Ma, 2020) with the aim of equipping students with 21^st-century skills. Creativity and innovation have been in the center of Education 4.0, including effective use of learning management systems. Flipped classrooms are applied, and the technology is easily accessible, providing personalized teaching and learning opportunities. In brief, all these changes in technology have led education systems to develop a more digitalized version in teaching and learning processes, increasingly demanding the digital teacher.

Besides meeting the requirements of Education 4.0, another significant phenomenon came out in 2019 with the outbreak of Covid-19: online education. The unprecedented impacts of Covid-19 on education have been extensively transformative to learning and teaching processes. The sudden transition from face-to-face classes into online classes throughout the world has accelerated digital transformation in the education sector. Oliveira and de Souza (2021) stated that digital transformation requires the reconsideration of all the processes related to learning and teaching, taking “the practical aspects of the digital transformation, through knowledge and technical skills, and [...] the incorporation of skill, mindset, and digital attitudes” into account (p. 4). Covid-19 has also caused the widespread use of digital applications to enhance the role and importance of technology in education as a solution to provide continuity in education without disrupting educational gains during the lockdown. These solutions have increased the effort to improve technology-integrated teaching and learning processes for students, teachers, and education administrators regarding their access to technology, competencies in using technology, and digital skills. Therefore, creating a digital teacher with the qualifications and technical skills has become necessary.