Digital transformation of education: From changing funds to developing activities

Abstract

The problem of distance between the processes of world transition to a new technological platform, information technologies, to the digital economy and digitalization of various spheres of activity, including education, on the one hand, and not sufficiently deep studies of the phenomenon of digital transformation, including the digital transformation of education, on the other hand, is studied. Lack of elaboration of the essence of digital transformation provokes the free and often marketing use of the concepts of digitalization, digital technologies, and digital transformation of education, and in practice leads to low efficiency of actions taken to implement projects and programs of digital transformation. The lack of strict assumptions leads to a lack of meanings, a multiple increase in the managerial and organizational complexity of implementing the actual practice of digital transformation in education, and as a result, there is an imitation or formal implementation of promising projects. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the General model of digital transformation and to specify it in relation to the digital transformation of education, demonstrating all the elements of the structure of the transformed object and the nature of the cardinal transformations. The hypothesis being tested — the transformation process covers not only the means of educational activity, in particular, digital technologies, but also other elements of it — the goal, object, subject, changing the essence of the educational activity itself, contrasting it with the processes of training and preparation. The system-based research methodology is used. Research methods: main — theoretical analysis and synthesis of existing scientific positions, observation of practical artifacts of digital transformation of education; accompanying — experimental method for testing the results of research. The main results were: distinguishing digital transformation projects, highlighting their unique properties and characteristics that differ from projects of optimization, improvement, development; substantiating the model of digital transformation of education, including proof that in the process of transformation, not only the means (digital technologies), but also the content of the educational process, its goals, subjects and methods of communication between them change dramatically. This suggests a new approach to changing the education process under the influence of digital transformation, its distance from the processes of education and training, which will become a starting point in the self-organization of teams of projects of digital transformation of education. The results will be useful to heads of education authorities at all levels, managers and development teams of educational organizations of basic and additional education, who are planning or implementing digital transformation projects.