The influence of teaching attitudes and digital competencies on virtual higher education teaching

The design and implementation of virtual courses is influenced by the different teaching approaches of university lecturers as well as their individual levels of competence in digital (teaching) skills. This paper presents the empirical results of a study which showed that a student-centered teaching approach is particularly advantageous for the design of virtual teaching and that the development of digital competencies is one key to the successful implementation of digital educational formats. To this end, the paper also discusses the implications of the current findings for the creation of advanced training programmes designed to provide HEI educators with the digital competences needed in teaching and learning settings.