The Relationship between Digital Competencies and Job Performance of Secondary Public School Teachers in the District of Calauan, Laguna

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In this 21st century, technology is important in many fields including education. This is because technology has become the knowledge transfer channel in most countries. Integration of technology nowadays has gone through innovations and transformed our society that has totally changed the way people think, work, and live. Upon the implementation of the K-12 Curriculum, a lot of changes happened. ICT became crucial and teachers' digital competencies became necessary. Hence, studies conducted on digital competencies are often focused on learner's abilities and skills, but those who served as the channel of learning are usually overlooked. In this study, teachers' digital competencies will be reviewed so that their' competencies might be redefined.

METHODS

This is a descriptive study making use of an adapted survey. The researcher utilized simple random sampling as well as a fishbowl draw so that each of the teacher-respondent has an equal chance of participating in the study. The study was conducted in three national high schools in Laguna. Using the Slovin's formula, the computed total population was 150. The instrument used underwent content validation as well as reliability test using the Cronbach's Alpha. Also, Pearson product moment correlation was utilized to determine whether there is a significant relationship between teachers' digital competencies and job performance, which the latter was based on RPMS rating.

RESULTS

The study showed that in terms of digital competencies, majority of the teacher-respondents have excellent skills in terms of basic computer and Microsoft Office applications. On the other hand, respondents were able to have above average skills in Information and Communication Technology. Also, majority of the teacher-respondents were rated very satisfactory in their job performance. The results revealed that digital competencies and teachers' job performance were not found to be significant.

DISCUSSIONS

The researcher recommends that the school conduct advanced training through an ICT expert to level-up the knowledge of teachers on the latest trend of the use of technology that can be incorporated in the education setting. Department of Education might as well continue to give importance to teachers' performance by engaging them to special training that will help them to have better performance. Furthermore, other factors might be considered that might affect job performance of teachers like management factors and working environment.