Teacher digital empowerment scale: Study of validity and measurement invariance by gender and educational level

The digital empowerment of teachers is a European policy priority to support the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem. The study of teachers’ digital empowerment goes beyond digital literacy and explores how to use technology to its full potential in the classroom. Research into the development of measures of teachers’ digital empowerment at different stages of education is scarce. A total of 2.014 primary, secondary and university teachers (1.274 women and 740 men) took part in this study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the scale’s construct validity. Internal consistency coefficients were calculated for reliability analysis. Based on the findings of these analyses, a six-factor 38-item scale was developed. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis shows that the six-factor model is optimal for both men and women and different educational level of teachers. It can therefore be said that the Teacher Digital Empowerment Scale is a valid and reliable scale that can be used to measure teachers’ digital empowerment. • The instrument allows the identification of shortcomings in education systems about the use of digital technologies. • The indicators present in European organizations are operationalized for the observation of teacher digital empowerment. • We offer a conceptual model and empirical measure can be used in other contexts and countries. • The scale can be used to inform curriculum developers about the current state of digital empowerment among teachers. • Insights from the scale can guide the development of targeted teacher training programs.