The Development of Training Curriculum for Enhancing the Digital Technology Ability of Digital Media Arts Teachers at Private Colleges in Guangdong Province, People’ s Republic of China -

Abstract

          The abilities of digital technology are very crucial for digital arts teachers. This research aimed: 1) to study the current states and needs on the digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers; 2) to develop the training curriculum; 3) to implement the training curriculum; and 4) to evaluate the training curriculum for enhancing the digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers at private colleges in Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China. This study was divided into four phases: Phase 1: Studying the current states and needs of digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers. The samples were 38 teachers, 90 students and 90 alumni from three private colleges, selected by using the quota sampling technique. A questionnaire was designed to assess the digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers. The collected data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation; Phase 2: Developing the training curriculum. The target group consisted of 9 stakeholders, including two directors, two deputy directors, two department heads, and three business owners. Content analysis technique was performed on the interview data; Phase 3: Implementing the training curriculum. The target group included 38 digital media arts teachers at private colleges in Guangdong Province, selected by volunteering basis. The instrument was the test used as pre- and post-tests. The collected data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation and dependent samples t-test; Phase 4: Evaluating the training curriculum. The target groups were 38 digital media arts teachers and five experts. The research instruments were satisfaction questionnaire and questionnaire for evaluating the quality of the training curriculum. The data were analyzed by using mean and standard deviation. The findings could be summarized as follows:
           1. The digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers included three dimensions: technological ability, pedagogical ability and content ability, which pedagogical ability and content ability were at a high level, while technological ability was at a moderate level.
        2. The developed training curriculum included three modules: digital technology resources integration ability, digital technology proficiency ability, and digital media arts creation ability. Each module was trained for 2 days, totally 6 days for 45 hours. The developed curriculum comprised both theoretical learning and practical exercises.
         3. The results of the training curriculum showed that the digital technology ability of digital media arts teachers was statistically significantly higher after the training of Module 1: Digital technology resources integration ability, Module 2: Digital technology proficiency ability and Module 3: Digital media arts creation ability at the level of .01, and the training curriculum was effective and feasible.
        4. The digital media arts teachers in private colleges were satisfied towards the digital technology ability training curriculum at a high level. In addition, the experts rated the quality of the training curriculum in overall was at a high level. When considering each quality component, it was found that the highest mean score was the quality of feasibility, followed by accuracy, utility, propriety, and comprehensiveness, respectively.
          The findings are as the guidelines in improving the digital technology ability of digital arts teachers, providing effective pathways for digital technology skill enhancement, encouraging innovation and development in digital media arts education.