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Teachers on the Web and Children in Digital Reality: Being Up-to-Date Teacher Discussed at the Seminar

Seminar "Teaching Methods for the Digital Learning Environment in a School: from Conception to Implementation" was held in the School No. 604 of the Pushkinsky District, St. Petersburg, on 23.03.2022. It focused on such issues as what to do with a child born in the digital age, how teachers can keep up with changes, why teachers join online communities and how this affects the self-determination of the school as an innovative platform.

Elena Deripaska, Principal of the School No. 604, highlights that the development of a modern digital learning environment provides unique opportunities to improve the quality of education, which is necessary if we want to help students master vital competencies. "It is becoming more and more difficult to involve children born in the digital age into the learning process without creating the environment they are accustomed to," she notes, adding that the teacher understands like no one else that it is important to take into account the needs of the student.

At the same time, according to Olga Dryagina, Deputy Principal of the School No. 604, the digital educational system should be aimed primarily at expanding the interactivity of the learning process, not replacing live communication with the teacher. "In our opinion, the digital learning environment will create conditions ... for the development of children's educational independence and responsibility, provide students with a variety of tools for productive activities and give positive educational motivation."

She notes that the development of digital technologies resulted in teachers' interacting on the web more actively. "Such communities represent a new form of pedagogical interaction, involving the capabilities of Internet technologies and an effective tool for methodological support for teachers. In our school, such communities are called pedagogical laboratories."

Natalia Nuzhnova, Ph.D. in Education, Associate Professor, Herzen University, confirms that different network communities of teachers, who united in a situation of innovative transformations to solve professional problems, are of great interest. Moreover, it is important to understand that intensive development of the tools implies no less intensive development of the teacher.

"The search for innovative ideas results in the projects and programmes of various levels devoted mainly to the digital transformation of school education. They place serious demands on the modern teachers, their intellectual resources, professional competencies and creative thinking," the expert said.

According to her, this leads to the development of digital education, the personalisation of the educational process and also turns most educational institutions into innovative or experimental platforms.

The school teachers shared their experience in four pedagogical laboratories.

"Integration +" laboratory was presented by natural science teachers. They talked about using "Integration +" digital educational resource while conducting an experiment in a virtual laboratory and demonstrated the possibilities provided by this resource in project activities.

"Primary School Teacher ONLINE" laboratory summed up the experience of using educational platforms by educators.

"Digital Laboratory" taught the participants to use digital technologies during the lesson, in extracurricular activities and supplementary education of children.

"From Idea to Project" laboratory was presented by a facilitator and the school self-government participants. The guests were invited to work in groups and create projects in various areas.

44 teachers and methodologists took part in the event offline. The event was broadcast for the institutions of the Republic of Belarus and Crimea with which the School No. 604 cooperates closely. 39 teachers from the School No. 27 in Minsk and the School No. 12 in Simferopol joined it.