Digital Teacher for the 21^st-century School 4.0

Moscow Pedagogical State University, Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Professional Education named after V.A. Slastyonin, Moscow, Russia

¹ Corresponding author: fedorova.mpgu@yandex.ru

Abstract

The article deals with some pedagogical aspects of the digitalization of education. As it is shown in the article, the problem of digital education has been systematically analyzed and discussed for the last two decades by various analysts, researchers, and experts. Most of them consider the transition of education into its digital stage as the greatest turning point in the history of civilization and its culture. At present, teachers are facing quite new educational and pedagogical functions. The idea of a digital teacher as the leader of digital educational activity is in the focus of the analysis presented in the article. Educational platforms, online courses, digital textbooks, etc. influence on the transformation of the educational environment. Education is becoming more personalized. The content of teaching and learning is being changed radically according to its new values, meanings, orientations, as well as educational and pedagogical discourses. It is stressed in the article that teacher’s digital skills and competencies should be identified as the key professional pedagogical skills and competencies for his or her life-long learning, professional development and professional growth due to the challenges of the 21^st-century knowledge, information and innovations society and education. To fulfill a system of professional-pedagogical and educational functions more effectively and to guarantee the optimal implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs), it is quite necessary for teachers to have adequate skills and competencies that characterize his or her digital professional culture of teaching.