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Necesidades de desarrollo profesional de los docentes de
inglés en instituciones públicas de Ecuador: diagnóstico
para el diseño de una oferta formativa en la era digital
Professional development needs of English teachers in public
institutions in Ecuador: diagnosis for the design of a training offer in
the digital age
Gavin-Quinchuela, Brenda Tatiana
1
Sanaguano-Moreno, Andrea Patricia
2
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7713-802X
andreasanaguano@yahoo.com
brenda.gavin@ueb.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7751-2914
Universidad Estatal de Bolívar, Ecuador, Bolívar.
Instituto Superior Tecnológico Riobamba, Ecuador,
Riobamba.
Guijarro-Paguay, Piedad Rosario
3
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0887-7689
piaguijarrop@hotmail.com
Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo, Ecuador,
Riobamba.
Autor de correspondencia
1
DOI / URL: https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v4/n3/228
Resumen: El desarrollo profesional continuo de los docentes
de inglés en instituciones públicas del Ecuador enfrenta
barreras estructurales que limitan el acceso a formación de
calidad. Este estudio diagnosticó las necesidades de
desarrollo profesional de docentes de inglés en instituciones
públicas ecuatorianas para generar evidencia empírica
orientada al diseño de una oferta formativa accesible en la era
digital. Se empleó un diseño cuantitativo descriptivo
transversal con 80 docentes de EFL de 12 provincias,
seleccionados por conveniencia. Los datos se recolectaron
mediante un cuestionario de 24 ítems vía Microsoft Forms
(escala Likert α = .745, selección múltiple y pregunta abierta).
Los resultados revelan que las principales barreras son el
costo económico (50.0%) y la falta de tiempo (40.0%),
mientras que la conectividad resultó menos determinante (M =
2.79). El 80.0% ya utiliza herramientas de inteligencia artificial
(IA), principalmente ChatGPT (85.0%) y Google Gemini
(57.5%), aunque de forma informal. El curso más demandado
fue planificación microcurricular con tres horas semanales
(73.75%), seguido por diseño de materiales imprimibles
(68.75%) e IA para materiales visuales (67.5%). El 86.25%
manifestó interés en un certificado con aval institucional y el
76.25% requiere acceso fuera del horario escolar. Se concluye
que la oferta formativa debe ser gratuita, asincrónica,
bidimensional y sensible a los contextos rurales y urbano-
marginales.
Palabras clave: EFL; profesionalización; capacitación;
inteligencia artificial; Ecuador.
Artículo Científico
Received: 28/May/2026
Accepted: 24/Jun/2026
Published: 17/Jul/2026
Cita: Gavin-Quinchuela, B. T., Sanaguano-
Moreno, A. P., & Guijarro-Paguay, P. R. (2026).
Necesidades de desarrollo profesional de los
docentes de inglés en instituciones públicas de
Ecuador: diagnóstico para el diseño de una
oferta formativa en la era digital. Revista
Científica Ciencia Y Método, 4(3), 173-
191. https://doi.org/10.55813/gaea/rcym/v4/n3
/228
Revista Científica Ciencia y Método (RCyM)
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© 2026. Este artículo es un documento de
acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos y
condiciones de la Licencia Creative
Commons, Atribución-NoComercial 4.0
Internacional.
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Artículo Científico
Julio – Septiembre 2026
Abstract:
The continuous professional development of English teachers in Ecuadorian public
institutions faces structural barriers that limit access to quality training. This study
diagnosed the professional development needs of English teachers in Ecuadorian
public institutions to generate empirical evidence for the design of an accessible
training offer in the digital age. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design was
employed with 80 EFL teachers from 12 provinces, selected by convenience sampling.
Data were collected through a 24-item questionnaire via Microsoft Forms (Likert scale
α = .745, multiple selection, and open-ended question). The results reveal that the
main barriers are economic cost (50.0%) and lack of time (40.0%), while connectivity
proved less decisive (M = 2.79). 80.0% already use artificial intelligence (AI) tools,
primarily ChatGPT (85.0%) and Google Gemini (57.5%), though informally. The most
demanded course was microcurricular planning within three weekly hours (73.75%),
followed by printable materials design (68.75%) and AI for visual materials (67.5%).
86.25% expressed interest in an institutionally endorsed certificate and 76.25% require
access outside school hours. It is concluded that the training offer must be free,
asynchronous, bidimensional, and responsive to rural and urban-marginal contexts.
Keywords: EFL; professionalization; training; artificial intelligence; Ecuador.
1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped educational systems worldwide, introducing
unprecedented disruptions to teaching practices, curriculum delivery, and teacher
professional development (Christ et al., 2024). In the post-pandemic period, English
as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in public institutions across Latin America have
faced a compounded set of challenges that extend well beyond the initial disruptions
caused by the health crisis. In Ecuador specifically, the post-pandemic educational
landscape has been shaped by a series of structural reforms that have fundamentally
altered the conditions under which English is taught in public schools. The reduction
of weekly English instruction from five to three hours in Basic Superior and
Baccalaureate levels, introduced through Ministerial Agreement MINEDUC-2022-
00010-A (Ministerio de Educación del Ecuador, 2022), has severely constrained the
time available for language development. The absence of officially provided English
textbooks since 2017 (Ecuavisa, 2025), combined with the successive implementation
of three different national curricula within less than a decade (García, 2024), has
generated an environment of persistent pedagogical uncertainty. These structural
conditions have placed EFL teachers in a paradoxical position: increasingly required
to meet demanding linguistic outcomes with diminishing instructional time and
insufficient pedagogical resources.
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Within this context, teacher professional development (TPD) emerges as a critical lever
for sustaining and improving EFL teaching quality. However, access to meaningful
professional development remains deeply unequal across the Ecuadorian public-
school system.
Research conducted in the post-pandemic period has consistently documented that
EFL teachers in rural and urban-marginal contexts face structural barriers that prevent
them from engaging in continuous professional growth. Molina-Parraga (2026), in a
case study of 35 EFL teachers in Chunchi, Chimborazo, identified that the three most
frequently reported obstacles to professional development were lack of time (46%),
economic constraints (23%), and limited access to training resources and platforms
(20%). These findings are consistent with broader evidence from Latin American EFL
contexts: Ramos & Aguirre (2018) documented comparable structural limitations for
rural English teachers in Colombia, while Christ et al. (2024) confirmed the persistence
of these barriers across a 20-country study conducted during and after the pandemic.
In Ecuador, Macías & Villafuerte-Holguín (2023) further documented that the transition
to hybrid education exposed critical gaps in teachers' digital competencies, revealing
that institutional support for professional development was insufficient to meet the
demands of the new pedagogical environment.
The literature on EFL teacher professional development in Latin America reveals a
longstanding tension between the acknowledged importance of continuous training
and the structural conditions that inhibit it. Buendía and Macías (2019) note that
professional development programs in Colombia have historically been fragmented,
decontextualized, and disconnected from teachers' daily realities, a pattern that
resonates with the Ecuadorian context documented by De Angelis (2026), who found
that teacher educators in Ecuador consistently identified the lack of context-sensitive
training as a key limitation in the preparation and ongoing development of EFL
teachers.
Similarly, González et al. (2002) established early on that EFL teachers actively seek
professional development opportunities that address their specific classroom realities
rather than generic pedagogical content, a finding that has been reaffirmed across
subsequent decades of research (Chaves & Guapacha, 2016; Mora et al., 2014;
Viáfara & Largo, 2018). More recently, Infante-Vera (2026) identified emerging digital
competencies as a central axis of teacher transformation in the Ecuadorian university
context, arguing that EFL teachers who fail to develop these competencies risk
becoming pedagogically obsolete in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence
and digital tools.
Tamayo et al. (2023) reinforced this perspective by demonstrating that needs analysis-
driven program design in which teachers' own priorities inform the structure of training
offerings produces significantly more relevant and effective professional development
outcomes.
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The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in education has introduced a
transformative dimension to the professional development landscape, particularly for
teachers who face structural barriers to traditional forms of training. Tools such as
ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Canva with AI, Grammarly, and DeepL are increasingly
accessible, asynchronous, and low-cost, making them especially relevant for teachers
who cite time and economic constraints as their primary barriers to professional
growth.
Moorhouse et al. (2023) demonstrated that generative AI tools can meaningfully
support teacher autonomy in lesson planning and materials design, reducing
preparation time while simultaneously enhancing instructional quality. Lee and Cho
(2024) found that EFL teachers who engaged in structured AI-assisted self-directed
learning reported measurable gains in both instructional confidence and classroom
practice.
Tour and Zadorozhnyy (2023) examined the broader implications of AI integration in
teacher professional development, identifying both significant opportunities including
personalized, on-demand learning and structural tensions related to institutional
readiness and digital equity. Farrokhnia et al. (2024), in a SWOT analysis of ChatGPT's
educational implications, argued that the tool's accessibility and versatility position it
as a particularly valuable resource in contexts where formal professional development
infrastructure is limited.
Despite this growing body of evidence, the integration of AI into EFL teacher training
in Latin American public-school contexts remains underexplored, and evidence-based
frameworks for designing AI-supported professional development offerings tailored to
the specific constraints of these teachers are largely absent from the literature.
This gap is particularly significant given emerging evidence of rapid, informal AI
adoption among Ecuadorian EFL teachers. Survey data collected for the present study
(n = 80, representing 12 provinces) indicate that 80.0% of public school EFL teachers
already use AI tools in some capacity: 32.5% use them frequently and 47.5%
occasionally. Only 8.75% have attempted to use AI tools without success, and 8.75%
report never having used them.
Despite this widespread informal uptake, the same data reveal a paradox: teachers
with access to AI tools have adopted them intuitively and without formal training, which
raises critical questions about the quality, consistency, and pedagogical intentionality
of that usage. This coexistence of spontaneous AI adoption and the absence of
structured preparation constitutes what this study terms the digital integration gap in
EFL teacher professional development in Ecuador a gap that reflects not a lack of
interest or access, but a deficit in purposeful, context-sensitive training that translates
tool familiarity into effective pedagogical practice.
Beyond AI competencies, the survey data reveal a broader and more nuanced
professional development landscape that challenges any reductive framing of teacher
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needs as primarily technological. The most demanded training área identified by
73.75% of respondents (n = 59) is microcurricular planning aligned to the current three-
hour weekly English instruction constraint (D1). This finding directly echoes the
structural challenge documented by Molina-Parraga (2026) confirms that the
consequences of the 2022 ministerial reduction remain the most urgent pedagogical
priority for EFL teachers at the national level.
Equally significant is the demand for low-tech and no-tech pedagogical resources:
courses on printable EFL materials design (C1) and manipulative resources from the
local environment (C2) were selected by 55 and 54 respondents respectively (68.75%
and 67.5%), reflecting the reality that many institutions particularly in rural areas
continue to operate without reliable internet connectivity or digital infrastructure.
Okoye et al. (2023) and Basantes et al. (2022) have documented comparable patterns
across Latin American and Ecuadorian higher education contexts, confirming that
technological inequity remains a structural barrier that professional development
programs must explicitly address rather than assume away.
This multi-dimensional demand spanning AI integration, pedagogical planning, and
low-tech resource creation underscores the need for a professional development offer
that is simultaneously responsive to the digital era and grounded in the material
realities of public-school teaching in Ecuador.
This study responds to this multidimensional demand by conducting a nationwide
diagnostic of EFL teacher professional development needs in Ecuadorian public
institutions. Unlike previous studies that have addressed technological barriers or
pedagogical challenges in isolation, this research integrates both dimensions to
produce an evidence-based characterization of what teachers need, what constraints
they face, and what modalities and content areas they prioritize for their own
professional growth.
Alvarado et al. (2026) have recently called for greater alignment between international
educational frameworks and local Ecuadorian realities in EFL contexts a call that this
study addresses by grounding its analysis in teachers' self-reported needs rather than
externally imposed frameworks.
Specifically, the study addresses three interconnected research questions: (1) What
are the primary barriers to professional development faced by EFL teachers in
Ecuadorian public institutions? (2) What is the current state of AI tool adoption among
these teachers, and how does it relate to their perceived need for formal training? (3)
What training areas and course formats do EFL teachers prioritize when given the
opportunity to self-select their professional development agenda?
The findings of this study hold both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically,
they contribute to the emerging literature on demand-driven, AI-mediated teacher
professional development in low-resource EFL contexts (Farrokhnia et al., 2024;
Moorhouse et al., 2023; Tour & Zadorozhnyy, 2023), extending this discussion to the
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specific structural realities of public school EFL teaching in Ecuador. Practically, the
results directly inform the design of a structured training offer developed. The
remainder of this article is organized as follows.
The Method section describes the research design, participants, instrument, and
analytical procedures. The Results section presents findings organized around the
three research dimensions. The Discussion section interprets these findings in light of
existing literature, and the Conclusions section outlines implications for policy, practice,
and future research.
2. Method
Research Design
This study adopted a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional research design. A
cross-sectional approach was selected because the study aims to capture a snapshot
of EFL teachers' professional development needs, AI tool adoption patterns, and
training preferences at a specific point in time, without manipulating variables or
tracking changes over time.
The descriptive orientation is appropriate given that the primary objective is to
characterize the current state of professional development demand among a nationally
distributed population of EFL teachers in Ecuadorian public institutions, rather than to
establish causal relationships. This design aligns with established approaches in
needs analysis research in EFL teacher education (Buendía & Macías, 2019; Tamayo
et al., 2023) and has been widely applied in diagnostic studies of teacher professional
development in Latin American contexts (Christ et al., 2024; Molina-Parraga, 2026).
Participants and Sampling Procedure
The study sample comprised 80 EFL teachers currently employed in public educational
institutions across Ecuador. Participants were selected through non-probability
convenience sampling, facilitated by the distribution of the survey instrument via digital
channels primarily WhatsApp teacher networks and email by a contact person with
established access to EFL teacher communities across multiple provinces. While non-
probability sampling limits statistical generalizability, it is a widely accepted procedure
in exploratory and diagnostic research in education, particularly when the goal is to
capture diverse professional experiences and needs across a geographically
dispersed population.
The final sample represented 12 of Ecuador's 24 provinces, with the highest
concentrations in Chimborazo (n = 32, 40.0%), Guayas (n = 13, 16.25%), and
Pichincha (n = 11, 13.75%). The remaining nine provinces accounted for the other 30%
of responses, ensuring geographic diversity across the Costa, Sierra, and Amazonía
regions. Regarding institutional setting, 35.0% of participants (n = 28) worked in urban
public schools, 32.5% (n = 26) in rural public schools, 28.75% (n = 23) in mixed public
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schools (unidades educativas), and 3.75% (n = 3) in urban-marginal institutions. A
detailed characterization of the sample is presented in Table 1.
Table 1
Participant Characteristics (N = 80)
n
%
Institutional setting
28
35.0
26
32.5
23
28.75
3
3.75
Teaching level
23
28.75
21
26.25
14
17.50
13
16.25
9
11.25
Contract type
33
41.25
31
38.75
9
11.25
7
8.75
Teaching experience
27
33.75
22
27.50
21
26.25
10
12.50
English proficiency level (CEFR)
23
28.75
19
23.75
14
17.50
9
11.25
8
10.00
6
7.50
1
1.25
Weekly hours dedicated to professional development
40
50.00
24
30.00
8
10.00
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n
%
8
10.00
Note: Participants were selected through non-probability convenience sampling. Percentages may not
sum to 100 due to rounding (Autores, 2026).
Data Collection Instrument
Data were collected using a structured self-report questionnaire administered digitally
through Microsoft Forms. The instrument was developed specifically for this study and
organized into five thematic sections comprising a total of 24 items (see Table 2).
Section 1 collected demographic and contextual information across seven items.
Section 2 assessed barriers to professional development through five Likert-scale
items and one multiple-selection item.
Section 3 examined current AI tool knowledge and use through three multiple-choice
or multiple-selection items and three additional Likert-scale items measuring self-
efficacy, perceived utility of AI, and perceived training needs. Section 4 presented a
catalogue of 17 potential training courses organized into four thematic categories
Category A (AI tools requiring internet), Category B (technology with limited
connectivity), Category C (tangible materials without internet), and Category D
(professional and pedagogical development) alongside items assessing preferred
schedule and interest in a certification option. Section 5 included one open-ended item
and one optional contact field. The full instrument structure is summarized in Table 2.
The Likert-scale items in Sections 2 and 3 used a five-point response format ranging
from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The internal consistency of the eight
Likert items was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, yielding a coefficient of α = .745,
which exceeds the commonly accepted threshold of .70 for research instruments and
indicates adequate reliability for the present study's purposes. Content validity was
established through expert review by two specialists in EFL teacher education, who
assessed the clarity, relevance, and alignment of each item with the research
objectives. Revisions were incorporated based on their feedback prior to instrument
deployment.
Table 2
Instrument Structure and Content by Section
Section
Dimension
Content
Format (items)
1
Demographic data
Province, institution type,
teaching level, contract,
experience, English level, weekly
development hours
Multiple choice (7 items)
2
Barriers to
professional
development
Structural obstacles: time, cost,
connectivity, institutional support,
technological currency
5-point Likert scale (5
items) + multiple
selection (1 item)
3
AI tool knowledge
and use
Frequency of AI use, tools known
or used, intended uses, self-
efficacy, perceived utility, training
needs
Multiple choice +
multiple selection + 5-
point Likert scale (6
items)
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Section
Dimension
Content
Format (items)
4
Training preferences
course catalogue
Selection of preferred courses
from 17-item catalogue
(Categories A–D), preferred
schedule, certificate interest
Multiple selection +
multiple choice (3 items)
5
Open-ended and
contact
Specific topic suggestion; optional
contact for course notification
Open text (2 items)
Note: The instrument was administered via Microsoft Forms. Section 4 presented a 17-item course
catalogue organized into four thematic categories (A–D). α = .745 for the eight Likert-scale items across
Sections 2 and 3 (Autores, 2026).
Data Collection Procedure
The survey was administered digitally through a publicly accessible Microsoft Forms
link, with no login requirement, to facilitate participation across diverse technological
contexts. Data collection took place between May 12 and May 22, 2026, a ten-day
window that yielded 80 complete responses. The survey link was distributed via
WhatsApp teacher groups and email networks by a contact with established access to
EFL teacher communities in multiple provinces.
A digital informed consent statement was displayed at the beginning of the survey,
clearly explaining the study's purpose, the voluntary nature of participation, the
anonymous treatment of all responses, and the exclusive use of data for academic
purposes. No incentives were offered for participation. Respondents could withdraw at
any point without consequence. All data were treated in strict accordance with ethical
standards for educational research.
Data Analysis
Data were exported from Microsoft Forms to Microsoft Excel and subsequently
analyzed using Python (version 3.11) with the pandas and numpy libraries for
descriptive statistical analysis. Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard
deviations were calculated for all closed-response items. For the Likert-scale items,
mean scores and standard deviations were computed per item to identify relative levels
of agreement and perceived importance across the barrier and AI self-efficacy
dimensions. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the internal consistency of the
eight-item Likert battery.
For the multiple-selection ítems including the course catalogue (Section 4) absolute
frequencies and percentages were computed for each response option to identify the
most and least demanded training areas. Open-ended responses (Section 5) were
reviewed descriptively to identify recurring themes, which were used to complement
and triangulate the quantitative findings. Results are reported using APA 7 conventions
for descriptive statistics, with tables provided for participant characteristics and course
demand frequencies.
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3. Results
The findings are organized around the three research dimensions established in the
introduction: (1) barriers to professional development, (2) AI tool adoption and training
needs, and (3) course preferences and certification interest. Results are reported using
frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations.
3.1 Barriers to Professional Development
When asked to select their primary barriers to accessing professional development
from a multiple-choice list, participants most frequently identified economic constraints
(n = 40, 50.0%), followed by lack of time (n = 32, 40.0%), lack of awareness of available
options (n = 18, 22.5%), lack of institutional support (n = 14, 17.5%), insufficient
relevance of available offers for rural contexts (n = 8, 10.0%), limited internet
connectivity (n = 6, 7.5%), and no significant barriers (n = 6, 7.5%). Notably, economic
constraints ranked above time constraints in direct selection, a finding that diverges
from the Likert-scale results and suggests that while both barriers are significant,
financial limitations may constitute the most concrete and immediate obstacle when
teachers are prompted to identify a single primary cause.
The Likert-scale items in Section 2 further nuanced these findings. Time constraints
received the highest mean agreement (M = 3.49, SD = 1.18), with 52.5% of
respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that lack of time is their primary obstacle.
Course cost was the second most endorsed barrier (M = 3.38, SD = 1.24), with 55.0%
of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing. Lack of institutional support yielded a
moderate mean (M = 3.24, SD = 1.18), with 43.75% expressing agreement. In contrast,
internet connectivity (M = 2.79, SD = 1.25) and perceived technological outdatedness
(M = 2.84, SD = 1.16) received the lowest endorsement among the Likert items, with
responses distributed across all five scale points. Table 3 presents the complete item-
level frequency distribution and descriptive statistics for the eight Likert items across
Sections 2 and 3.
Table 3
Frequency Distribution and Descriptive Statistics for Likert-Scale Items (N = 80)
Item
TD
D
N
A
TA
M
SD
Section 2 Barriers to professional development
Lack of time is the main barrier to my
professional development
6
9
23
24
18
3.49
1.18
Cost of courses and certifications limits my
access to quality training
11
5
20
31
13
3.38
1.24
Internet connectivity in my area hinders
online course participation
17
15
22
20
6
2.79
1.25
My institution does not offer relevant
continuous training opportunities
10
7
28
24
11
3.24
1.18
I feel outdated regarding technological tools
in EFL teaching
13
16
28
17
6
2.84
1.16
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Item
TD
D
N
A
TA
M
SD
Section 3 AI self-efficacy and training needs
I feel confident using digital tools and AI in
my lesson preparation
6
4
24
31
15
3.56
1.09
I believe AI can help me prepare better
lessons despite limited time
7
3
25
27
18
3.58
1.14
I need specific training on how to use AI to
prepare EFL classes
7
4
22
30
17
3.58
1.14
Note: TD = Totally Disagree; D = Disagree; N = Neutral; A = Agree; TA = Totally Agree. Scale: 1–5. α =
.745 for all eight items combined. Items 1–5 correspond to Section 2 (barriers); Items 6–8 correspond
to Section 3 (AI self-efficacy and training needs) (Autores, 2026).
3.2 AI Tool Adoption and Training Needs
A large majority of respondents reported some level of AI tool use in their teaching
practice. Specifically, 32.5% (n = 26) reported using AI tools frequently, 47.5% (n = 38)
occasionally, and 11.25% (n = 9) had attempted to use them without sufficient success.
Only 8.75% (n = 7) reported never having used AI tools. Taken together, these figures
indicate that 80.0% of the sample has engaged with AI tools at some level, reflecting
a significantly higher adoption rate than might be expected in rural and public school
contexts.
ChatGPT was by far the most widely known and used tool, identified by 85.0% of
respondents (n = 68), followed by Google Gemini (57.5%, n = 46), Canva with AI
(46.25%, n = 37), Grammarly (30.0%, n = 24), DeepL (11.25%, n = 9), and ElevenLabs
(3.75%, n = 3). Only 6.25% (n = 5) indicated familiarity with none of the listed tools.
Regarding intended or actual uses of AI in teaching, the most frequently selected
purpose was designing visual or audiovisual materials (60.0%, n = 48), followed by
creating exercises and activities for students (48.75%, n = 39), preparing grammar
explanations and examples (43.75%, n = 35), generating assessments and rubrics
(37.5%, n = 30), improving teachers' own English (28.75%, n = 23), and translating or
adapting texts (26.25%, n = 21). Only 2.5% (n = 2) indicated they would not use AI at
all.
Despite the high rate of AI adoption, teachers expressed moderate but clear
recognition of the need for formal training. The three AI-related Likert items yielded
nearly identical means: self-confidence using digital tools and AI (M = 3.56, SD = 1.09),
belief that AI can improve lessons despite time constraints (M = 3.58, SD = 1.14), and
perceived need for specific AI training (M = 3.58, SD = 1.14). In all three items,
combined agree/strongly agree responses represented the modal tendency (57.5%,
56.25%, and 58.75% respectively), while the presence of a substantial neutral
response cluster suggests ambivalence that formal training may help resolve.
3.3 Course Preferences and Certification Interest
Participants were presented with a catalogue of 17 courses organized into four
thematic categories and invited to select all courses they would like to take. The overall
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demand was high across all categories, with the majority of courses selected by more
than 50% of respondents. Table 4 presents the complete frequency distribution by
course.
Within Category D (Professional and Pedagogical Development), the course on EFL
microcurricular planning with only three weekly hours (D1) emerged as the single most
demanded course across the entire catalogue, selected by 73.75% of respondents (n
= 59). Formative assessment (D2) was selected by 61.25% (n = 49), virtual
communities of practice (D3) by 50.0% (n = 40), and communicative English in
multigrade schools (D4) by 40.0% (n = 32). Within Category C (Tangible Materials
Without Internet), design and printing of EFL didactic materials (C1) was selected by
68.75% (n = 55), and manipulative resources from the local environment (C2) by 67.5%
(n = 54). Within Category A (AI Tools Requiring Internet), the most demanded course
was AI for visual and audiovisual materials design (A2, 67.5%, n = 54), followed by AI
for lesson preparation (A1, 55.0%, n = 44), AI for teachers' own language skills (A4,
50.0%, n = 40), AI for assessment (A3, 45.0%, n = 36), and the introductory AI course
(A5, 43.75%, n = 35). Within Category B (Technology with Limited Connectivity), offline
digital tools (B1) led with 63.75% (n = 51), followed by basic technology without internet
(B2, 60.0%, n = 48), gamification without internet (B3, 55.0%, n = 44), and mobile
recording (B4, 46.25%, n = 37).
Table 4
Course Demand Frequency by Category and Course Code (N = 80)
Code
Course title
n
%
Category A AI Tools (internet required)
A2
AI for EFL visual and audiovisual materials design
54
67.50
A1
AI for EFL lesson preparation
44
55.00
A4
AI for improving teachers' own linguistic
competence
40
50.00
A3
AI for assessment and feedback
36
45.00
A5
Introduction to AI for teachers with no prior
experience
35
43.75
Category B Technology with Limited Connectivity
B1
Offline digital tools for the EFL classroom
51
63.75
B2
Basic technology without internet: projector, phone,
whiteboard
48
60.00
B3
Gamification without internet: games and
classroom dynamics
44
55.00
B4
Recording audio and video with a mobile phone
37
46.25
Category C Tangible Materials Without Internet
C1
Design and printing of EFL didactic materials
55
68.75
C2
Manipulative resources from the local environment
54
67.50
C4
Storytelling with physical materials
43
53.75
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Code
Course title
n
%
C3
Designing an EFL workbook without a textbook
37
46.25
Category D Professional and Pedagogical Development
D1
EFL microcurricular planning with only 3 weekly
hours
59
73.75
D2
Formative assessment in the EFL classroom
49
61.25
D3
Virtual teacher communities of practice (WhatsApp
/ Telegram)
40
50.00
D4
Communicative English in multigrade and single-
teacher schools
32
40.00
Note: Participants could select multiple courses. Percentages reflect the proportion of respondents who
selected each course relative to the total sample (N = 80). Courses are ordered by demand within each
category (Autores, 2026).
Regarding preferred access schedule, the largest group indicated a preference for
weeknight access after 18:00 (41.25%, n = 33), followed by weekend access (35.0%,
n = 28), fully asynchronous access at any time (17.5%, n = 14), and no preference
(6.25%, n = 5). Regarding the certification option, 70.0% (n = 56) indicated interest
subject to cost, and 16.25% (n = 13) expressed unconditional willingness to pay. Only
11.25% (n = 9) preferred free-access-only participation, and 2.5% (n = 2) expressed
no interest in any certificate. Combined, 86.25% showed some level of interest in the
certified completion option. Open-ended responses (n = 47 non-blank) reinforced the
quantitative findings, with recurrent themes including lesson planning and
microcurricular design, creation of didactic resources, gamification, and AI use for
audio creation and differentiated instruction.
4. Discussion
This study set out to characterize the professional development needs of EFL teachers
in Ecuadorian public institutions, with the dual aim of contributing to the empirical
literature on teacher training in low-resource contexts and generating evidence-based
data to inform the design of a structured, demand-driven training offer. The findings
across the three research dimensions yield several theoretically significant insights that
both confirm and extend existing knowledge in the field.
The Hierarchy of Barriers: Economic Constraints as the Primary Obstacle
The results reveal a hierarchy of barriers to professional development that partially
diverges from the pattern documented by Molina-Parraga (2026) in their case study of
EFL teachers in Chunchi. While their study identified lack of time as the leading barrier
(46%), the present national-scale data show that economic constraints rank first in
direct selection (50.0%), with time constraints second (40.0%). This shift may reflect
the broader socioeconomic diversity of a nationally distributed sample spanning 12
provinces across the Costa, Sierra, and Amazonía regions. Critically, both barriers co-
occur and interact: the Likert results confirm that time constraints retain the highest
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mean endorsement (M = 3.49), while cost is only marginally lower (M = 3.38),
suggesting that these are not mutually exclusive obstacles but co-occurring structural
conditions that any professional development offer must address simultaneously.
These findings resonate with Ramos & Aguirre (2018) and Christ et al. (2024), who
identified resource scarcity and time pressure as the two most consistent barriers
across Latin American EFL contexts.
Two findings diverge from expectations. First, internet connectivity received the lowest
Likert endorsement as a barrier (M = 2.79), despite the fact that 32.5% of the sample
works in rural schools where digital infrastructure is frequently inadequate. This may
be explained by widespread smartphone ownership among Ecuadorian teachers,
which provides basic internet access even in contexts without institutional connectivity.
Second, perceived technological outdatedness also received a low mean (M = 2.84),
which is noteworthy given that 80.0% of respondents already use AI tools. Together,
these results suggest that the digital integration gap identified in this study is not
primarily a matter of access or self-perceived obsolescence, but rather a structural
deficit in purposeful, pedagogically grounded training a conclusion consistent with
Macías & Villafuerte-Holguín (2023), who found that Ecuadorian teachers' digital
competencies were often developed through informal, unsupported self-learning.
The Digital Integration Gap: Informal Adoption Without Formal Preparation
The finding that 80.0% of EFL teachers already use AI tolos with 32.5% doing so
frequently challenges prevailing assumptions about the technological readiness of
public school teachers in Ecuador. Okoye et al. (2023) and Basantes-Andrade et al.
(2022) have documented widespread digital inequities in Latin American higher
education, often framing teachers as technologically resistant or underequipped. The
present data suggest a more nuanced picture: teachers are proactively engaging with
AI tools in the absence of formal guidance. However, this informal adoption coexists
with a clear recognition of its limitations. The convergence of Likert means across the
three AI items (M ≈ 3.57) suggests that teachers simultaneously feel moderately
confident in their current AI use, believe in its potential, and recognize that their existing
skills are insufficient for systematic pedagogical integration. This three-way tension
constitutes precisely the psychological readiness that Moorhouse et al. (2023) identify
as the precondition for effective AI-mediated professional development. The finding
that the most frequently reported use of AI is designing visual materials (60.0%) further
illustrates that current adoption is task-specific and output-oriented. Lee and Cho
(2024) and Tour and Zadorozhnyy (2023) have argued that the transition from tool user
to reflective AI practitioner is the central challenge of AI-mediated teacher professional
development, and the present findings confirm that this challenge is particularly acute
in the Ecuadorian context.
Training Priorities: The Persistence of Structural Needs Alongside Digital Demand
Despite the high rate of AI tool adoption, the single most demanded course is
pedagogical EFL microcurricular planning with only three weekly hours (D1, 73.75%).
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This confirms that the structural consequences of the 2022 ministerial reduction
(Ministerio de Educación del Ecuador, 2022) remain the most acutely felt professional
challenge, more than four years after the policy was implemented. García (2024)
argued that frequent curricular changes without adequate teacher preparation create
pedagogical instability; the present data demonstrate that this instability persists and
that teachers' demand for support remains unmet. Equally revealing is the high
demand for tangible, low-tech materials design: C1 (68.75%) and C2 (67.5%) ranked
second and third across the entire catalogue. These findings address the persistent
absence of official English textbooks since 2017 (Ecuavisa, 2025). Tamayo et al.
(2023) have demonstrated that needs-analysis-driven program design produces more
relevant outcomes than decontextualized training; this study operationalizes that
principle at national scale.
The juxtaposition of high demand for AI courses (A2, 67.5%; A1, 55.0%) alongside
equally high demand for no-tech courses (C1, 68.75%; C2, 67.5%) illustrates the
defining characteristic of the Ecuadorian EFL professional development landscape: the
coexistence of technological aspiration and material constraint. Teachers need both
digital and analogue competencies, and a training offer that focuses exclusively on one
domain risks excluding a significant portion of its target population. De Angelis (2026)
has argued that effective EFL teacher education in Ecuador must be contextually
responsive to the material and institutional conditions that teachers actually inhabit.
Regarding certification and access modality, the finding that 86.25% expressed
interest in a formally endorsed certificate with 76.25% requiring out-of-school-hours
Access provides clear guidance for operational design. Garreta-Domingo et al. (2017)
established flexibility as the most critical design parameter for professional
development programs targeting in-service teachers; the strong but cost-sensitive
certification interest supports the freemium model adopted in this training offer.
Limitations
Several methodological limitations must be acknowledged. First, the use of non-
probability convenience sampling restricts statistical generalizability. Although the
sample spans 12 provinces, it cannot be considered nationally representative. Second,
the instrument relies entirely on self-report data, which are subject to social desirability
bias. Third, the geographic distribution was uneven, with Chimborazo accounting for
40.0% of the sample, which may reflect the specific professional networks through
which the survey was disseminated. Fourth, the absence of observational or qualitative
data limits the depth of insight into how teachers' self-reported AI use translates into
actual pedagogical practice. Future research should employ stratified sampling across
all 24 provinces and incorporate mixed-methods designs with classroom observation
and in-depth interviews.
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5. Conclusions
This study set out to diagnose the professional development needs of EFL teachers in
Ecuadorian public institutions, with the aim of generating an evidence base for the
design of a structured, demand-driven training offer aligned to the conditions of
teaching in the digital age. Based on a nationwide survey involving 80 teachers across
12 provinces, the findings carry implications for educational policy, program design,
and future research.
Professional development access in Ecuador's public EFL system remains constrained
by two co-occurring structural barriers economic cost and time neither of which can be
addressed in isolation. The finding that 50.0% of teachers cite cost and 40.0% cite time
as primary obstacles, while Likert means confirm the near-equal weight of both (M =
3.49 and M = 3.38 respectively), points to the need for models that are simultaneously
free at the point of access and flexible in delivery. Any training offer that requires
upfront payment or mandates synchronous participation is structurally ill-suited to this
population. Effective professional development must therefore be free at the point of
access and fully asynchronous economic cost and time are co-occurring, mutually
reinforcing barriers that standard training models consistently fail to address.
The study also identifies what it terms the digital integration gap: the coexistence of
widespread informal AI adoption (80.0% of teachers) with the absence of structured,
pedagogically grounded training. Teachers in this sample are not technologically
passive; they are active, self-directed adopters of tools such as ChatGPT and Google
Gemini. However, their use remains predominantly task-specific and output-oriented
rather than reflective or systematically aligned to pedagogical goals. The central
challenge, therefore, is not adoption but integration teachers need structured training
that elevates tool familiarity into deliberate, pedagogically intentional practice.
Perhaps most significantly, the study demonstrates that EFL teachers' professional
development needs in Ecuador are simultaneously digital and analogue. The most
demanded course EFL microcurricular planning within three weekly hours (73.75%) is
not technology-related but pedagogical, responding directly to the structural
consequences of the 2022 instructional time reduction. High demand for printable
materials design (68.75%) and manipulative resources (67.5%) confirms that material
scarcity remains a daily reality. Professional development in Ecuador must therefore
be bidimensional, addressing both digital competencies and analogue pedagogical
skills simultaneously, since structural challenges such as reduced instructional time
and the absence of textbooks generate training demands that AI literacy alone cannot
resolve.
These conclusions carry direct implications for educational policy. The persistent
demand for microcurricular planning training indicates that the 2022 instructional time
reduction has generated an unmet professional development debt that official channels
have not adequately addressed. Policymakers should consider restoring instructional
time to pre-2022 levels, requiring that Ministry programs explicitly address current
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curricular constraints, and recognizing institutionally endorsed asynchronous training
as a legitimate pathway for professional development credit.
Future research should pursue three directions: longitudinal studies tracking
pedagogical practices before and after structured AI training; mixed-methods designs
incorporating classroom observation and teacher interviews; and investigation of the
intersection between AI tools, EFL development, and inclusive education particularly
regarding accessibility for teachers with visual impairments, a dimension raised by
respondents that remains unexplored.
EFL teachers in Ecuador's public institutions are already adapting and self-directing
their growth within severe structural constraints. What they need is not motivation but
infrastructure: training that is free, asynchronous, grounded in classroom realities, and
recognized through formal credentials.
CONFLICTO DE INTERESES
“Los autores declaran no tener ningún conflicto de intereses”.
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