Enhancing Teachers’ Proficiency through Digital Leadership and Technology-Based Professional Development Programs in Karachi Universities

Abstract

The present paper has an objective to examine how digital leadership influences the proficiency of teachers with the help of technology-based training in the institutions of higher learning in Karachi. Digital transformation has contributed to a fundamental transformation in the teaching practices, instruction and the ways of professional development in higher education in the modern educational context. The aim of the study was to examine how digital leadership practices are related to teacher proficiency, and the impact of technology-based training on developing digital competencies of teachers and teaching efficacy. The research paradigm adopted was positivist and the research design was a survey research design to gather quantitative data on workforce among faculty members of both public and private universities in Karachi.    The main data collection tool was a structured questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale. A stratified random sample of 390 teachers was chosen to enable representation of the different academic disciplines and sectors of the institutions. Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the collected data and the descriptive statistics, t-test, Anova, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis were done. The research results showed that there was a strong positive correlation between digital leadership and the proficiency of the teachers. The findings also showed that technology-integrated training has a positive impact on the digital skills, classroom behaviors and confidence of teachers to use educational technologies. Regression analysis indicated that digital leadership is a powerful predictor of the proficiency of teachers and technology-integrated training increases the effectiveness of leadership practices in higher education institutions. The research finds that digital leadership and ongoing training that is technological in nature is needed to enhance the competence of teachers and facilitate digital transformation within higher education. The study offers some useful implications on educational leaders, policy makers and university administrators in coming up with sustainable digital learning settings and programs in professional development.