Digital educational transformation in Ecuador: the strategic role of digital teaching competence in church-run institutions in Esmeraldas

Abstract

Digital transformation in education is one of the key challenges facing contemporary education systems, driving significant transformations in teaching, learning, and organizational governance. Therefore, teachers' digital competence is a strategic element for ensuring the successful implementation of technologies in educational practice and creating an innovative, inclusive, and sustainable learning environment. However, in Ecuador, significant digital knowledge gaps persist regarding connectivity, technological resources, and teacher training, particularly in regions with more pronounced social disadvantage and greater territorial divisions (such as the province of Esmeraldas). This study seeks to investigate teachers' digital competence as a strategic catalyst in the digital transformation processes of mission-based institutions in Esmeraldas. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines, using data available through the Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, SciELO, and Dialnet databases. With this approach, our selection of documents facilitated the identification and analysis of research on teachers' digital competence and pedagogical innovations and educational inclusion, as well as digital leadership and educational transformation. The findings suggest that teachers' digital competence is a critical construct that underpins pedagogical innovation, improves educational inclusion, and contributes to institutional digital cultures that support lifelong learning. They also identified challenges related to technological infrastructure, teacher training, institutional leadership, and closing the digital divide. As one of the main contributions of evidence, we present the Educational Transformation Model Based on Teacher Digital Competence (MTE-CDD), where teaching vocation, digital competence, pedagogical innovation, educational inclusion, and institutional digital culture are the structural elements for achieving sustainable educational transformation in a context like Esmeraldas.