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After a conceptual analysis of numerous frameworks for teachers’ digital competence (TDC), one such framework was selected to be implemented, and the state of development of the TDC and its relationship with the introduction of computer programming have been studied. The hypothesis is that the implementation of a TDC framework within a first-year university class within an Education degree, called Computer Science and Digital Competence would help future teachers to significantly improve their TDC and, specifically, increase their knowledge of computer programming. In order to test this hypothesis, a study has been carried out with 116 students enrolled in the degree programs in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. The results show that the participants were not digitally competent at the beginning of the course but that they had become significantly more so at the end of it, with a large effect size. Additionally, the prospective teachers did not understand the basic concepts of programming at the beginning of the course, but by the end their knowledge of programming concepts had improved significantly, as evidenced by the large effect size, although even by the end of the course they had not reached an adequate level of programming. The most used frequently tools among students are WhatsApp, social networks and email, but many they were not aware of tools such as podcasts or forums. In addition, the motivation of the participants to learn programming seems to be excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking (CT) is a key skill in the 21st century. However, it is not clear which is the most effective way to acquire and improve CT. Big research efforts are made to determine which pedagogical means should be used. One research trend is based on the idea that teaching programming since Primary Education suffices to improve CT. In our previous work, we proposed and validated a methodology based on metaphors and used of Scratch (MECOPROG) to teach basic programming concepts to children. It is our hypothesis H that by applying MECOPROG, students will develop their CT. To check H, we carried out an experiment with 132 Primary Education Students (9–12 years in age). At the beginning of the experiment, all students were asked to fill in a programming concepts test and two tests to measure their CT. During the sessions, all students were taught according to MECOPROG. Finally, they took the three tests again. A significant increase in the results on all the tests has been measured, supporting the use of metaphors and Scratch to teach computer programming concepts to Primary Education students to develop their CT. • Computational Thinking can be improved using metaphors and Scratch. • Primary Education students' Computational Thinking can be improved. • Primary Education students can learn basic programming concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]