Navigating the Digital Frontier: A Qualitative Inquiry into Pre-Service Teachers’ Digital Competence in India

Mirza Shahzan Asagar; Harjeet Kaur Bhatia

doi:10.63960/sp.2026.aesip.1.1.19

Authors

Mirza Shahzan Asagar Department of Educational Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India Author

Competing Interests

The author(s) report no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.
Harjeet Kaur Bhatia Department of Educational Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India Author

Competing Interests

The author(s) report no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

https://doi.org/10.63960/sp.2026.aesip.1.1.19

Keywords:

Digital Competence, Pre-Service Teachers, Digcompedu, Teacher Education, Qualitative Inquiry, India

Abstract

Digital competence is now a basic professional requirement for teachers, but its development in teacher education programmes is uneven, especially in the Global South. This qualitative study explores how 36 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in India experience and describe digital competence, and how they deal with related challenges in teaching, assessment, professional engagement, and learner empowerment. Using semi-structured online interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, the study shows that basic infrastructural problems, such as unreliable internet, unequal access to resources, and limited institutional investment, create a ceiling that prevents more advanced use of technology in teaching. On top of these structural issues, PSTs struggle with maintaining integrity in digital assessment, handling AI-related ethical questions, and helping students become competent and responsible digital users. Across all areas, participants strongly preferred practical, hands-on, pedagogy-focused training instead of the mainly theoretical input they currently receive. The findings support the relevance of the DigCompEdu and TPACK frameworks in this under-researched context and highlight a serious gap between teacher education curricula and the actual digital conditions in classrooms. The study adds to qualitative research on pre-service teacher digital competence in the Global South and offers context-specific ideas for curriculum change and institutional policy.

Author Biographies

Mirza Shahzan Asagar, Department of Educational Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India

Mirza Shahzan Asagar is an emerging researcher and educational professional specialized in the fields of Education, History, and Educational Technology. He completed his Master of Education (M.Ed.) at Jamia Millia Islamia and went on to serve as a Research Assistant within the institution. He is currently pursuing doctoral research focused heavily on instructional strategies and educational advancements.His academic contributions center on contemporary developments mandated by India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, focusing on flipped learning models, the implementation of the Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP), and the integration of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) into modern pedagogy. Additionally, his recent work explores the critical opportunities, structural challenges, and ethical implications of using AI tools in scholastic environments.
Harjeet Kaur Bhatia, Department of Educational Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India

Professor Harjeet Kaur Bhatia is a distinguished Professor of Educational Technology and the former Head of the Department of Educational Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University). With an extensive career spanning more than three decades, she initially began her professional journey as a school teacher before transitioning to higher education. She has dedicated over thirty years to training and mentoring the next generation of educators.As a prominent educational technology specialist, Professor Bhatia is known for designing and leading cutting-edge synchronized, blended, and online learning environments. Her research and publications comprehensively cover key modern academic domains, including policies leveraging ICT for learning, open educational resources (OERs), flipped learning, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. She is a heavily sought-after keynote speaker at national and international academic platforms.

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Navigating the Digital Frontier: A Qualitative Inquiry into Pre-Service Teachers’ Digital Competence in India

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