Teachers' digital competences before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the improvement of security and defence higher education

COVID-19 hastened a trend that was already ongoing before the pandemic outbreak: the progressively increasing use of distance and online teaching and learning, alongside with lectures and classes. The potentialities of online teaching allowed a didactic continuity that would have been impossible otherwise, and this approach is likely to be maintained even after COVID-19 related restrictions end. From these remarks, it immediately follows that it is of great importance that teachers, students and other personnel, such as technicians and program managers, possess digital skills devoted to education. In the context of security and defence, areas with a strong international vocation, these skills are even more valuable. This research investigates the impact of COVID-19 on education in these contexts: the changes caused by the pandemic, the teachers’ perception about some aspects of their job, such as the way they relate with students, and their ability to perform the same commitments in a different scenario. The research has been conducted based on the analysis of an online anonymous questionnaire with more than 500 responses. Results suggested the importance of the development of a training devoted to improving teachers’ digital skills, since they live frontline in education, and they have been directly impacted by disruptive changes. This study is part of the European project Digital Competences for Improving Security and Defence Education - DIGICODE. Pursuing to the Digital Education Action Plan, the project aims at improving education quality in security and defence, by means of digital tools in didactics, and the development of teachers’ professional competences.