Digital literacy of modern higher education teachers

¹ Southern Federal University, 344006, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
² Institute of Service and Entrepreneurship (branch) Don State Technical University in Shakhty, 346500, Shakhty, Russia
³ Moscow University of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia named after V.Ya. Kikotya, 117437, Moscow, Russia

^* Corresponding author: vaskovmaxsim@mail.ru

Abstract

The expansion of digital technologies in all spheres of human life determines the digital transformation of education. This is due to the fact that the digital transformation of education brings the educational system itself in line with the requirements of the technological revolution and allows students to obtain relevant digital competencies in order to be qualified personnel for the economic sector. In connection with the digitalization of education and the active use of information technologies in the educational process, the requirements to the faculty of higher education are also changing. This became especially noticeable over the past year, when universities worked in a remote format. Therefore, the authors of the article turn to the issue of digital literacy of modern higher education teachers. Based on the structurally functional theory of T. Parsons, the modernist concept of E. Giddens and the theory of determination of human behavior by A. Maslow, it is shown what competencies a modern higher education teacher has in the context of the digital transformation of education. Based on the analysis, it should be noted that digital competencies include competencies related to information literacy, skills for interaction in an electronic environment; the ability to generate digital content; ensuring the safety of the physical and psychological health of users; the ability to identify and eliminate technical problems when working with digital devices. Digital literacy of teachers is the mastery of a set of the listed competencies. In general, the digital literacy index of university teachers is quite high, but unlike young people, teachers trust technological innovations to a lesser extent, which reduces their willingness to actively work with the digital educational environment. In our opinion, modern teachers need to transform their attitude to digitalization with the help of high-quality training in working with a digital educational environment.