Distance Learning as a Means of Digital Skills Development in High School and University Students

The present research featured the readiness of university and high school students for distance learning as a means of improving their digital skills. The survey was conducted in October 2020 and involved 807 students from schools and universities of Nizhny Novgorod aged 14–24 (M=18, SD=2.22; 62.6 % female, 37.4 % male). Six focus groups included 63 students aged 17–24 (M=18, SD=1.83; 65 % female, 35 % male). The study showed that the readiness of young people for distance learning depended on their awareness of how digital technologies changed human life during the pandemic. The research revealed four types of young people with different attitudes to distance learning. Awareness of the impact of digitalization appeared to be a powerful motivator for the use of distance learning to develop digital competencies. The constraining factors included emotional and volitional immaturity, orientation to hedonistic values, confidence in one’s own digital competence, and skepticism regarding the ability of distance education to promote professional development.

Digital Skills in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This chapter describes the digital competencies that have become essential in the workforce and how higher education institutions (HEIs) are trying to keep up in a moment in which faculty members have been acquiring digital skills alongside students. A field study was conducted with faculty from HEIs in Mexico to identify the differences between the digital skills that faculty possessed previous to the pandemic and those acquired as a result of remote work. It also analyzes the digital tools they have been provided with to perform their jobs, the training they have received, and the digital skills that they still lack to help students acquire the digital competencies demanded in the workforce. The objective is to identify areas of opportunity and create general guidelines that will help develop critical digital skills. A literature review of the most relevant aspects of digital dexterity and digital competence in higher education (HE) is presented. An analysis of the current context and how it is producing changes faster than before is also included.

Digital Competencies in Online Education

The chapter will explore some aspects of online education such as digital skills, digital competences, and innovations in education, which the COVID-19 pandemic put into the foreground of the processes of learning and education at universities. The ability to apply digital skills and develop them into digital competencies is a basic prerequisite for learners and educators. The author analyses and evaluates the current state and challenges posed by online education, especially at colleges and universities. The concepts and terminology in the field of education in cyberspace, models of digital competencies of educators, scientific and educational policy documents defining the requirements for university teachers in online education were considered. The investigation was supported by the results of a questionnaire survey. The author points out the possibilities and ultimate requirements of online education at universities in terms of students, teachers, innovations, evaluation, advantages, and barriers in online education.

Digital Competencies and Transformation in Higher Education

Extension action promotes inclusive, equitable, and quality education, a goal of sustainable development that guides educational actions around the world. The development of digital skills is a differential, together with the encouragement of open educational practices. This chapter provides reflections, as well as lessons learned, through experience in a biomedical engineering course. Encouragement, through the development of actions that correlate important skills and abilities, is essential for professional development. The carrying out of teaching, research, and extension activities and actions contributed to promote the interdisciplinarity of the various fields of study, necessary for professional development in the digital age. Thus, the actions developed stimulated the investigation, improvement, and study of topics of interest related to education and health and technology areas related to the role of the biomedical engineer, the main protagonist of this project.

The experience of the transition of a law university to distance learning during the pandemic: an analysis of students’ and teachers’ opinions

Introduction. The spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19 has led to a forced and rapid transition of educational institutions, including law universities, to distance learning, which has become its predominant and even exclusive form in some periods. The research purpose is to study the features of the transition from traditional to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the opinions of students and teachers at a law university. Materials and methods. The survey was attended by the teaching staff and students of Kutafin Moscow State Law University. In June 2020, eighty (80) teachers and sixty-five (65) students and in December 2020 – one hundred and thirty (130) teachers and four hundred and sixty-three (463) students took part in the survey. The survey was conducted remotely using Google Forms. Methods of mathematical statistics were used: descriptive methods (percentages, graphical data presentation), Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Research results. The forced large-scale transition of practicing lawyers to the work with digital technologies in the context of the spread of coronavirus infection revealed the lack of digital competencies in many of them and demonstrated the need to prepare law students for future work in the digital environment. A two-stage survey of teachers and students at a law university made it possible to reveal a significant change in attitudes towards the electronic educational environment and distance learning technologies. An improvement in the quality of education in the second period was noted by 43.0% of students and 41.5% of teachers. Due to the transition to learning with the use of distance learning technologies, teachers began to communicate more often with students and colleagues (r = 0.203; p < 0.05), as a result of which the emotional perception of the educational process in many teachers changed for the better (r = 0.236; p < 0.01). Discussion and conclusion. Learning with the use of distance learning technologies allows students to form new digital competencies that are necessary and in demand in the modern world. In this case, an important role is given not only to remote lecture- and seminar-type classes, but also to remote academic training, which is close to real conditions of the activities of practicing lawyers.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES OF A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER IN THE ERA OF DIGITALIZATION

The article reflects the results of some sociological studies, the results of which indicate the need for the formation of new, digital competencies for higher school teachers. Global economic processes and digital trends are transforming the content and technologies of pedagogical work, but many teachers are not ready for such innovations. The conclusion is made that the sustainable introduction of digital learning tools can be successful only if the general vector of digital transformation of the educational process is justified and supported by both the university administration and the teachers themselves.

Towards Specific of Definition for Concept of a “Digital Competencies”

The article describes the specifics of the concept of digital competencies in the context of the development of an innovative economy. A brief comparison of the concepts of digital literacy, media literacy and digital competencies is carried out, their general and specific features are indicated. The main applications of digital competencies, both economic and socio-cultural, are indicated. An example of a comprehensive program for the development of digital competencies within the European Union is presented, as well as the place androle of the concept of “digital competencies” in programs for long-term socio-economic and educational development of Russia.

Elementary School Teachers’ Training Needs: Innovating Digital Competence

The purpose of the study was to determine the training needs needed by teachers in making digital products to facilitate the learning process. Training is as a way for teachers to innovate digital competencies. The participants of this study were 10 elementary school teachers (F=6 and M=4). Participants are homeroom teachers from grades 1 to 6, and 4 were subject teachers (Mathematics, English, local content and sports). This study used the descriptive qualitative method. Observation, documents and interviews collected data. The data analysis process used the Miles and Huberman model through data reduction, data presentation, drawing conclusions and triangulation. The results show that teachers need workshops that can directly practice making digital teaching tools such as learning videos and developing videos on the YouTube channel. However, they have difficulties with the technological devices they have. There are 30% of teachers who have full technology equipment, and the rest rely on smartphones for online teaching and learning. Thus, schools can consider providing technology tools that teachers can use in developing digital competencies and digital learning tools.

Communicative Competences of Civil Servants in Service State

The purpose of the paper is to specify the definition of communicative competence, civil servant essential to the service (customer-centered) state and methods of their formation. The authors analyze the scientific views as well as the advanced international and Russian experience of forming a customer-oriented communicative competence in the governmental agencies and business structures. It was revealed that the new communicative competence of the public officer is related to the providing of public services and expressed by the skills to identify and fulfill the needs of citizens in direct contact with them. The emotional and digital competencies are emphasized. The latter is expressed in the skill of consulting citizens with the newest digital technologies in front offices. The authors found that in foreign experience the formation of communicative competence is carried out largely by activity methods – in the workplace in real practice, whyle in Russia – by simulation methods that only imitate real conditions.

Development of skills to work with digital sound in the school informatics course

The development of digital competencies of students is currently one of the main pedagogical tasks. The solution of this task is possible by paying attention to issues related to the skills of students to create their own digital content, for example, multimedia, combining various types of information (text, graphics, video and audio). The article provides a brief analysis of the content of teaching issues related to the study of digital sound processing technologies in a school informatics course. Taking into account the relevance of this issue, a thematic module "Digital Sound" is proposed, the content of which does not require binding to specific software. When studying the module, the emphasis is on mastering specific technologies for processing sound information. The module can be implemented as an optional course for students in 7–9th grades and/or as an elective course for students in 10–11th grades. At the same time, particular blocks of the module can be used at various stages of teaching informatics at school