The rapid progress of digitalisation poses considerable challenges for early years education. One of these challenges is to ensure equitable digital education (DE) in diverse classroom settings. Under the umbrella of the Digital Education for Equity in Primary Schools (DEEP) consortium, the initiative aims to ensure teachers professional development (PD) that enables teachers to implement equitable DE in primary schools. The initiative is driven by the recognition that DE is essential for success in the 21st century, and that inequalities in early primary education can lead to enduring disadvantages (El-Hamamsy et al., 2023). This includes fostering AI competencies, which have been declared central 21st-century skills (Kandlhofer et al., 2016; Miao & Shiohira, 2024).

Despite the attributed importance, it cannot be taken for granted that teachers are adequately prepared for providing equitable DE. Indeed, research has identified several barriers to the effective implementation of DE. Based on a literature review, Hew and Brush (2007) classified these barriers into external and internal barriers. External barriers comprise resources, institutional factors, subject culture and assessment practices. Internal barriers comprise attitudes and beliefs as well as knowledge and skills.

In order to overcome the barriers to equitable digital education in the early years and to gain empirically based insights from Swiss primary school teachers and international research, the present paper focuses on two research questions (RQ):

1. What are the key characteristics of PD programs that effectively address DE barriers?

2. What are the challenges and needs for Swiss teachers to develop their competencies for an equitable DE in the early years of primary school?

To answer RQ#1, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method is used. Eight articles were identified to address the research question. Results revealed that effective PD programs primarily address internal barriers. However, external barriers, particularly assessment practices and institutional factors, are less frequently targeted. Key features of effective programs, such as active learning, content focus, and collaboration, are commonly included, while sustainable support and alignment with specific school contexts are less often incorporated. Furthermore, it is also important to consider local conditions. To effectively support teachers with needs-based PD strategies, it is essential to evaluate the challenges and needs they face in their local classroom setting.

To capture Swiss teachers' perspectives and answer RQ#2, focus group and individual interviews were conducted with N = 18 primary school teachers from the German-, French-, and Italian-speaking regions. The discussions focused on the successes and challenges of implementing digital education in the first two years of primary school. An interview guide was created to structure the conversations, with key questions including (e.g. "Imagine that the content of the subject you teach is constantly changing. What support would you need to stay up to date?") The interviews were analysed using an inductive qualitative content analysis based on Mayring (2022).

The content analysis resulted in a category system with seven main categories: PD formats, PD contents, PD logistics and settings, realisation ideas of DE with children, barriers to the implementation of DE, teachers' attitudes and AI competencies. Overall, the interviews highlighted that teachers' limited knowledge and competencies present significant challenges in providing DE in primary schools. In particular, misconceptions about the scope of DE, beyond the mere use of devices and media, became evident. Furthermore, teachers unanimously expressed the need for realisable, practice-oriented examples of DE, accompanied by expert access.

The research contributes to the issue of how primary school teachers can be supported to continuously develop competences for equitable DE. It lays the foundation for successful PD design in DE tailored to the needs of primary school teachers.

Theoretical Background

The ongoing digitalization of our pluralistic society presents opportunities and challenges for school practice, education, and teacher training (Heinz 2023, p. 193). To identify the necessary competencies for navigating these changes, the "Deep Professionalization" project, based on the IPRODiG model, explores the impacts of digital transformation on teacher professionalization (Irion et al., 2023). Specifically, the project investigates how the interplay between educational equity and digitalization is addressed in continuing education programs for Swiss teachers, aiming to develop conclusions and recommendations for future initiatives. Our focus is on programs designed to create opportunities for learning according to all people's individual abilities and needs. However, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the "heterogeneous range of offers" (Educa 2021, p. 266). To date, only one survey for the universities of teacher education in Switzerland has been published (Hansen and Kohlstock 2022).

Research questions

To map training offers for primary school teachers in the field of digitization and educational equity in German-speaking Switzerland, we are investigating the following research questions:

1. Which further training courses are offered by which institutions, with which content and objectives, and in which form?

3. To what extent do educational equity and digitization play a role in this?

4. Which concepts and aspects of educational equity and digitization are (not) addressed?

Method

For this purpose, we use web scraping and data mining methods from digital research. Web scraping, the automated collection of data from various websites, is carried out in the study using a script (including the Scrapy program) (Mitchell 2024, p. 105). The focus is on the websites of public and private providers. The online content is recorded as comprehensively as possible over a year to create a data set of approximately N = 1,500 offers. Compared to manual procedures, this is an efficient form of data collection. In addition, these data contain up-to-date information and are freely accessible. They are suitable for gaining an overview of a research field and monitoring developments (Debón 2024). However, this type of data also involves challenges, “such as potential biases in data, issues with accuracy, […] and variations in language and website quality” (Ashouri et al. 2024, p. 4). It is important to reflect on which questions can be answered based on the data: What is published on the website and what is not? It is therefore recommended that the data set be supplemented with other, different data (forms) for which interviews and questionnaires in the project contribute.

We use topic modeling and text mining to analyze the data. Text mining “begins with computational transformations that break up and classify digitalized strings of text into units representing constituent words and phrases, and then applies statistical manipulations” (Guldi 2023, p. 1). By this, we analyze the distribution, meaning, and expression of the concepts used in digitization and equity by frequency, co-occurrence, and collocation analyses. Furthermore, topics, i.e., thematic connections, are to be recognized, and, if necessary, different content and thematic focuses are to be identified by clustering (Audrin and Audrin 2022, p 7298). This evaluation provides new insights, especially for large data sets. However, the approach can fail when “algorithmic distillations of text are misapplied, with the result of analyses that are empty, biased, or simply false.” (Guldi 2023, p. 2). Hence, a critical and reflective relationship to the data and the evaluation procedures is fundamental.

Significance

The presentation will provide insights into the project's preliminary results and discuss the opportunities and limitations of the various methods and approaches. The focus will be on initial interpretations and conclusions for teacher training strategies in a diverse and complex world.

Theoretical Background

The digital transformation of education has significantly altered the competency requirements for primary school teachers. Teachers now require not only appropriate professional knowledge, the right motivational attitudes and value-based convictions, and self-regulation competencies (COACTIV, see Kunter et al., 2011) but also expertise regarding digital media (IPRODiG model, see Irion et al., 2023; DPACK, see Huwer et al., 2019). Even though models for assessing primary school teachers’ digital competencies exist, the extent to which Swiss primary school teachers possess these digital competencies, and what further training they may require in the future, remains still unclear. Additionally, the currently available models such as IPRODiG and DPACK have limitations, as they only focus on specific facets of teachers’ competencies. Recent research, however, highlighted a digital divide among students, which may directly affect their use of digital media and, consequently, their learning process and outcomes. For instance, studies have shown that students from families with lower socioeconomic status(SES) often have less access to hardware and software and demonstrate lower digital competencies than students with higher SES (Educa, 2021; Erzinger et al., 2023). To address this issue, it is essential that teachers are not only aware of this divide but also possess the competencies needed to mitigate it (Heinz, 2023). Similar to digital competencies, there is currently no research examining this mindset or these competencies among Swiss primary school teachers. Within our project, we aim to close these research gaps by surveying primary school teachers in German-speaking Switzerland.

Research Questions

We pursue the following questions:

a) What digital competencies do primary school teachers in German-speaking Switzerland possess?

b) What mindset and competencies do they possess regarding digital divide?

c) What further training do they need?

Method

To answer these questions, we designed a questionnaire based on the IPRODiG model (Irion et al., 2023), including validated scales to assess teachers’ attitudes regarding further training (Irion et al., 2023; Vogelsang et al., 2022), their self-regulation regarding digitalization (IN.K19+ German Version 1.1, Vejvoda et al., 2023), and digital competencies (TPACK.xs, Schmid et al., 2020).

We additionally developed two scales to examine teachers’ mindsets and their competencies regarding the digital divide. To assess teachers’ general equity mindsets in the context of digitalization and inequalities, we developed a scale that expands the work of Nadelson et al. (2019). To assess teachers’ competencies regarding the digital divide, we developed a scale based on the well-validated (Eickelmann et al., 2019; Senkbeil & Ihme, 2017) concept Digital Divide (Dijk, 2005, 2020), which focuses on motivation, usage, and outcomes. Both scales have been newly created and are being presented for the first time.

The survey is part of a larger mixed-methods research project focusing on primary teacher education, digitalization, and equity and a collaborative work from two universities of teacher education. We will pilot the survey in January 2025 and start data collection with primary school teachers in German-speaking Switzerland (N = 500) in March 2025. We will determine the sample based on specific school characteristics (e.g., urban versus rural areas; high versus low SES schools) and directly contact the selected schools to invite the teachers to participate. At the SSRE conference, we will present the results of the survey.

Significance

The primary goal of our research is to gain a deeper understanding of education in the context of digitalization and equity and to further develop this field. We aim to generate new evidence that leads to practical insights into the education system. Additionally, we seek to identify the mindset and competencies teachers require to effectively deal with the digital divide and highlight the training formats that are most relevant for teachers’ development.

Theoretical Background

Teachers’ digital competencies are pivotal in fostering students’ success in a rapidly evolving digital environment. As younger generations increasingly become immersed in technology, active support is essential to mitigate potential negative impacts. While schools and families share this responsibility (Botturi, 2019), research indicates that many students lack adequate support at home (Reid Chassiakos et al., 2016). This highlights the need for teachers to develop robust digital competencies to ensure equitable student opportunities.

Despite this necessity, current teacher digital competency levels still need to be increased. Interviews reveal that many educators must prepare to meet contemporary demands (Cattaneo et al., 2021). Moreover, digital competency varies significantly among teachers in Switzerland (Prasse et al., 2017). Studies suggest that structured courses with clear guidelines and practical tools are highly effective in building competencies (Scull & Kpersmidt, 2011; Ranieri & Bruni, 2018).

To design impactful programs, we must first define professional competence. Using the IPRODiG model, we identify core components of teachers’ professional competency: professional knowledge (media-pedagogical knowledge), self-regulation, and psychological aspects (beliefs, values, goals, and motivation). Among those components, this study focuses on teachers’ beliefs. Even though belief is one of the most important factors in understanding teachers’ thinking, teaching practices, and their learning to teach (Richardson, 1996), there has not been much-agreed understanding of its effects (Santos, 2019). To examine the role of teachers’ beliefs in shaping the outcomes of training programs, we based our experiment on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). According to TPB, behavior is influenced by three belief-based constructs: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. These constructs shape the intention to act, with behavior ultimately depending on intention and perceived control. Our study focuses on subjective norms and perceived control, as participants who voluntarily enroll in further education courses already possess a positive attitude towards the subject matter.

Research Questions

How can teacher training courses be designed to effectively enhance teachers' beliefs to improve digital competencies in primary education?

Method

We employed a 2x2 experimental design to explore the impact of interventions targeting normative and control beliefs and their interaction effects, which have been reported in other studies (Ajzen, 2020). Beliefs will be measured using validated questionnaires (e.g., Teo & Lee, 2010). Intention will be evaluated using a motivation questionnaire (e.g., Rzejak et al., 2014). Additionally, behavior will be assessed through measurable learning outcomes, as learning is a plausible indicator of potential behavior. This assumption aligns with the idea that demonstrated learning reflects cognitive engagement and a readiness to translate intentions into practice. Using learning outcomes, we aim to capture the preparatory steps leading to actual behavior in the future, thus offering a comprehensive understanding of how interventions may influence beliefs, intentions, and actions.

Expected Results & Significance

Participants who received normative belief interventions are expected to align more closely with other teachers' or stakeholders' positive expectations of developing digital competencies. In contrast, those receiving control belief interventions will likely gain confidence in their digital skill development. The interaction between these interventions may produce synergistic effects, resulting in the highest levels of intention and improved learning outcomes.

This study contributes to understanding the factors influencing teachers’ digital competencies and the design of effective training programs. By examining belief structures, we aim to identify strategies for enhancing beliefs that impact teachers’ digital skills. The insights gained will inform the development of well-structured courses, enabling improved learning outcomes and professionalization among primary school educators. Furthermore, the findings will provide actionable guidelines for designing future teacher training programs and advancing digital equity in education.