Relationship between digital strategies and institutional management from teachers' perceptions at the "26 de Noviembre" Educational Unit: an analysis of the first quarter of 2026
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Abstract
Introduction. Digital transformation is a decisive factor in strengthening institutional management in contemporary educational organizations; however, public Ecuadorian institutions still face connectivity, support, and digital-competence limitations that restrict its use. Objective. To determine the relationship between the level of implementation of digital strategies and the strengthening of institutional management as perceived by teachers at the "26 de Noviembre" Educational Unit during the first quarter of 2026, to formulate institutional improvement guidelines. Methodology. Quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study with a descriptive-correlational scope and an applied Research, Development, and Innovation (R+D+i) component. A 24-item Likert questionnaire (1-5) was applied census-wide; of 49 teachers who agreed to participate, 37 completed the entire instrument and formed the analytical base. An Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) protocol preceded the inferential contrast, using Spearman's rho with 95% bootstrap confidence intervals (5,000 resamples) and Holm correction for dimension-level comparisons. Results. Digital strategies reached an overall mean score of 3.56 (SD = 0.51) and institutional management 3.60 (SD = 0.64); the access-and-support dimension was the weakest (M = 2.84). A positive, low-to-moderate association was found between both variables (rho = .334; 95% CI [-0.02, 0.64]; p = .043; n = 37); dimension-level correlations were not significant after the Holm adjustment. Conclusion. There is preliminary evidence of a positive relationship between digital strategies and institutional management, although of modest magnitude and wide sampling uncertainty, supporting the design of R+D+i guidelines centered on access, technical support, and institutional communication. General Area of Study: Education. Specific area of study: Educational management and digital transformation. Type of study: Original article.
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