This paper describes the use of PowToon in a curricular activity in the Technological Innovations as Didactic Resources course in two pedagogy programs at the Catholic University of Maule (UCM) in Chile. This activity has been designed from the ‘learning by doing’ paradigm, supported by the existing resources available in The Cloud. The perceptions of the students about the use of the program were collected using an open and closed question survey. The data analysis was carried out using a mixed methodology (qualitative/quantitative). In general terms, the results showed a positive opinion about the motivation as well as the contribution of using PowToon to learn new contents and develop ICT-related abilities. Opinions are divided about the level of complexity for users.

La competencia digital (CD) es fundamental para el desarrollo personal y académico de los estudiantes universitarios actuales. Evaluar el nivel de la CD en los primeros años de formación universitaria de los estudiantes de carreras de pedagogía es relevante para introducir mejoras en las carreras del área de educación. El Objetivo general de este trabajo, fue diseñar y validar un instrumento de evaluación COMPDIG-PED (Competencia digital en pedagogía), en un contexto de carreras del área de la educación de tres universidades públicas chilenas. En este artículo se presenta el diseño y validación de un instrumento de evaluación de la CD denominado COMPDIG-PED, basado en el marco DIGCOMP (Digital Competence) elaborado por la comunidad económica europea. Se establece su fiabilidad y validez de constructo, junto con los análisis estadísticos correspondientes, habiendo trabajado con juicio de expertos. La muestra estuvo constituida por 841 estudiantes. Los resultados muestran que COMPDIG-PED es un instrumento que cumple con los estándares para medir la CD de los estudiantes de primer año de las carreras de pedagogía en particular y de cualquier carrera universitaria en general.

Las competencias digitales (CD) son esenciales en la educación superior. Este estudio identifica, mediante Juicio de Expertos seleccionados mediante el Coeficiente de Competencia Experta (CCE) cuáles de las 21 CD del marco DIGCOMP son pertinentes para el desarrollo académico de estudiantes universitarios. Se seleccionaron 33 expertos de universidades chilenas, latinoamericanas y españolas, de los cuales 24 cumplieron CCE superior a 0.8. Estos expertos evaluaron las CD, los resultados fueron analizados meditante Content Validity Ratio (CVR) de Lawshe, 16 competencias fueron identificadas como pertinentes, con la representación de todas las áreas, destacando alfabetización informacional y de datos, y comunicación y colaboración. El CCE promedio fue 0.815 con una desviación estándar de 0.162, mientras que el coeficiente de argumentación promedio fue 0.874 con una desviación estándar de 0.106. Los resultados enfatizan la relevancia de integrar todas las áreas de competencia digital en los planes de estudio universitarios, en particular las competencias pertinentes identificadas, dado su impacto en el éxito académico y profesional de los estudiantes. Este estudio proporciona una base empírica para diseñar programas educativos que fortalezcan las CD prioritarias, aunque se reconoce la necesidad de estudios adicionales para medir el impacto directo de cada competencia en la formación académica.

Digital competences are widely regarded as the key competences as defined by various international organizations, such as the European Commission (2018) and the OECD (2022). Given their paramount importance across all facets of contemporary society, a thorough examination of their developmental aspects becomes imperative. The study was conducted at a Chilean state-run university, which stands as the second largest institution in terms of student enrollment. Utilizing a quantitative survey-based methodology, this research study seeks to characterize the level of digital competences among Year-1 students pursuing undergraduate programs. Furthermore, it aims to compare the competence levels of two prominent student groups, distinguished by their distinct secondary schooling pathways, namely, technical-vocational education (TVSE) and scientific-humanistic education (SHSE). For the purpose of data collection, the CompDig-Ped test, aligned with the European framework for digital competences (DigComp), has been employed as the research instrument. The key findings of this study underscore significant disparities in digital competence levels between students originating from SHSE and TVSE secondary school trajectories, with TVSE students demonstrating comparatively lower levels of digital competence. These outcomes are congruent with existing research, which highlights the challenges encountered by technical-vocational secondary education in Chile over an extended period of time.

The present study was carried out in a Chilean public university with the purpose of describing digital competences in safety area and their relationship with contextual variables in first-year students of different programs. In this research study, we processed the competences of the safety area of the COMPDIG-PED test, which is based on the European reference framework for digital skills DIGCOMP. The instrument was applied to 4360 higher education students, attending undergraduate courses in 2021 and 2022. The results indicated a relationship between the context variables analyzed through the COMPDIG-PED test and the digital safety competences. This relationship is linked to higher scores in the female gender, in students with more years of experience in the use of digital technologies, in those who came from private paid or subsidized institutions, and in those who were trained in a humanist scientific education.

This study investigates the relationship between access time to digital technologies and the devel-opment of digital competences among Chilean university students, using the DIGCOMP-PED in-strument based on the DIGCOMP framework. Methods: The instrument was applied to 4360 first-year students at a Chilean public university, and an expert validation process was carried out to identify relevant competences for academic training. Results: The findings indicate a positive but non-linear relationship between years of experience using technologies and performance in certain areas of the DIGCOMP framework. Although the study was conducted between 2021 and 2022, with the follow-up analysis completed in 2024, access alone does not guarantee the acquisition of ad-vanced skills across all competences. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the complexity of the re-lationship between access to technology and the development of digital competences, highlighting the importance of pairing access with quality education and structured guidance in digital literacy to prepare students for the challenges of the digital world.