Digital Transformation of Education

On October 26, 2018, as part of the 12th International exhibition Integrated Systems Russia 2018 (Expocenter, Moscow), the conference 'Digital Transformation of Education' took place. The event was organized for the education system staff who do not want to keep out of the advent of the digital world and for the representatives of business and the state who are involved in digital changes in the country.

Digital technologies in education: core of the problem

From year to year digital technologies become more and more accessible and perfect, children are included in the digital world almost since their birth. In this regard it can be said that the traditional 'teacher-learner' model is irrevocably obsolete.

The education system can become a driver of digital changes in human life, but to achieve this, it must be at the cutting edge of new digital solutions and technologies, apply them in its activities and train others to apply them in everyday life. What opportunities does digital education provide? How to measure effectiveness of innovative methods in education and how to train teachers of new format?

It was such transformation of the education system by means of digital solutions and related risks, that was discussed at the conference 'Digital Transformation of Education' co-organized by the Moscow International Education Fair. According to expectations, the same problems will be also discussed as part of the MIEF's regional projects – at the Ufa International Education Fair (UIEF) that will take place in Ufa on November 7 - 10, 2018 and at the Baikal International Education Fair (BIEF) to be held on November 22-25, 2018 in Irkutsk.

The conference included four panel discussions.

Panel discussion 'The tools of a digital teacher: yesterday, today, tomorrow'

Maxim Kazarnovsky, Director of the MIEF, the discussion moderator, proposed the following questions to discuss: digital transformation of pedagogical education: which technical solutions are applied by a modern teacher, if gadgets help or do harm at the lessons, what is done and what lacks in digital services for teachers, and analyzed practical company cases taken from modern teachers' lives. The participants were equally of the opinion that some special changes will also happen in the field of labor of teachers themselves, and their role in the educational process and in equipment status of their work places.

Thus, Vassily Burov (Moscow State Pedagogical University) noted that a teacher's role in school is changing from a mediator –translator of the textbook content to a choice consultant and content diversity navigator of the content for learners. 'The principal task is to motivate a learner, to assist in forming individual paths without losing knowledge consistency, softskills development and to participate as a facilitator in teamwork. This will also require a new teacher training model – appearance of such 'pedagogical liberalarts.'

During the discussion it became evident that the professional community is poorly informed about activities and solutions proposed by business from a perspective of new technologies for the education market. The MIEF's mission in this matter is to integrate produces and consumers of educational services, systematize their interaction, and bridge the gap between all the participants of the process.

Panel discussion 'Digital transformation of education: vectors of development'

The participants of the session moderated by Alexander Molchanov (Professional Electronic Education LLC) touched upon the global issues of changes in the Russian education system: how a modern teacher is changing, what will happen to school in the era of digital technologies, if the education system will have a common digital educational environment and many others.

In this regard Denis Benevolensky (Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region) marked the positive results of introduction of the information system of management of the regional education system of the Moscow Region implemented on terms of the public-private partnership. 'At present, the work on the system is ongoing covering more and more new segments,' said Benevolensky.

Panel discussion 'Digital school space: struggling for technologies'

The experts discussed the real cases of the digital educational space of school: how to transform the school space, without changing Sanitary Rules and Regulations, what digital space as an ecosystem is.

The discussion participants (moderator Natalia Bondarenko, Letovo School) noted that there is a need in approximation of interests of business and education. The principal problem was announced by Konstantin Biryukov (Apple Distinguished Educator, Khoroshkola): 'Education would like to receive a ready-to-use, multi-purpose product which does not require additional prolonged training, while most integrators propose packaged solutions, poorly adapted to the education system.'

Panel discussion 'Digital school: do we really need the walls?'

How do children live online? What do digital services teach? What role does a teacher play in digital school? These and other important and topical issues were brought up by Vadim Kovalev, the discussion moderator (Elektronnaya Shkola LLC (Znanika)). He expressed an opinion which was supported by all participants of the event: there's still much to work on in this area, where people must have a right of choice, a field for experiments and can refine new approaches and tools.

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The companies participating in the exhibition Integrated Systems Russia 2018 shared their vision of further vectors of development of digital technologies for education, told about their successful cases and innovative solutions which could be tested at the exhibition. The key conference theses are expected to form the basis for the resolution on interaction between business, expert community and the state on this subject.

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