Digital teaching competence and resilience across tutors of different age and gender in Ghana

Researchers in higher education institutions have recently expressed strong interest in digital teaching competence (DTC) as a means of ensuring sustainable, quality higher education in the post-Covid-19 era. Overall, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the moderating role of gender and age in the relationship between DTC and resilience among educators within the tertiary education space. The rationale of this study is to assess the moderating effect of digital teaching competence across gender and age among Colleges of Education tutors in Ghana in the post-Covid-19 era. A total of 200 tutors were disproportionately sampled from 10 Colleges of Education across the five zones in the country using a descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The sample size of 200 tutors was calculated based on power analysis to detect a medium effect size with 80% power and a significance level of 0.05. This sample size was considered adequate to provide reliable estimates and detect significant relationships between the variables of interest. Preliminary analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, while standard multiple regression and moderation analysis using PROCESS MACRO were employed for the main data analysis. The results show that the technology proficiency dimension of digital teaching competence (DTC) positively predicted resilience among college tutors. Furthermore, gender had no significant effect on the relationship between DTC and resilience. However, age had a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between DTC and resilience among college tutors. The findings of this study have important implications for higher education institutions in Ghana and beyond. Enhancing digital teaching competence (DTC) among tutors can contribute to building resilience, which is crucial for adapting to the challenges posed by the post-COVID-19 educational landscape. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of considering demographic characteristics, such as age, in understanding their moderating effects on the relationship between DTC and resilience. Institutions should tailor their professional development programs to address the unique needs and challenges faced by different demographic groups to maximize the benefits of enhancing DTC.