Leadership for Education in a Digital Age

Abstract

The article deals with some pedagogical aspects of the digitalization of education. The idea of a digital teacher as the leader of digital educational activity is in the focus of the theoretical analysis presented in the article. It is noted that knowledge and information, together with sustainability initiatives, organizational and technological innovations, start-ups, next-practice platforms, smart solutions, systems, technologies and instruments, etc., have become the present-day key drivers of innovative 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 21st-century knowledge, information and innovations society and education. As it is stated in the article, to fulfill a system of professional-pedagogical and educational functions more effectively and to guarantee the optimal implementation of information and communication technologies. It is quite necessary for teachers to have adequate skills and competencies that characterize his or her digital professional culture of teaching.

Keywords

• educational paradigm
• professional activity of a teacher
• digital teacher
• digital school
• digital educational environment