Sociological analysis of Montenegrin teachers’ digital capital

Abstract

Starting with the concept of digital capital in social sciences, this article presents the key findings of the “Global Kids Online” nationally representative survey of primary and high school teachers’ digital skills and practices that was conducted in Montenegro with Unicef’s support in 2018. Digital capital, as any other form of capital within Bourdieu’s perspective, has a sociological validity only in correlation with other forms of capital – such as economic, cultural and social – in a limited context and according to a multi-dimensional approach which goes from a macro- to a micro-social perspective (Pandolfini, 2016). This article identifies and discusses three perspectives of digital capital – macro, meso-social and micro – and their material (technologies, digital services and school experiments with devices) and non-material resources (digital competencies). Analysis of data from the Montenegrin research relating to this perspective shows that the daily practice of using digital technology in classrooms seems to be marginal, even though most teachers have access to the internet in their schools. Currently the majority of teachers are using the internet at school mostly just for checking information online. Their digital competencies are not generally advanced: on average, social and operational skills are the most developed, while their creative skills are least developed. Therefore, to support the development of children’s media literacy through formal education, further investments towards the strengthening of teachers’ digital competencies need to be made and the research shows that the demand for digital pedagogy courses already exists among most teachers. In other words, the Montenegrin research points to the need to invest more in education and experimentation related to the meso- and micro-social perspectives of digital capital.