Abstract
The teaching profession is dynamic and requires constant development. By introducing and prioratising an effective professional development system, school facilitates the introduction of innovations. The term “professional development” refers to an orderly, continuous, and intensive approach to improving teacher's work efficiency with the ultimate goal of further enhancing student achievement which involves three interrelated stages: study of specific needs, planning and implementation of relevant activities, evaluation of the obtained effect. The most popular activities are trainings with the core concept of digitalization, which involves developing teachers digital competence and skills using digital tools. During the pandemic, the practice of offering various types of online trainings for teacher professional development has gradually increased. Different digital educational platforms were introduced. Above mentioned online trainings/webinars were the best solution to maintain the continuity of teachers' professional development, however, this process posed a number of challenges to the pedagogical community. The purpose of the present work is, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of distance training, evaluate its results and define ways to increase efficiency. Research methods: surveys, interviews, focus groups. The research was conducted in 3 stages: an online survey of teachers, an interview with 14 school principals and a focus group with trainers/representatives of training organizations. Research outcomes: Though teacher development programs were problematic in terms of intensity, outdated topics, teachers lack of digital competence, poor internet connection, lack of implementation and evaluation of the training experience, the flexibility and availability of attendance, access to the materials enhanced teachers readiness and motivation. On the basis of the research and analysis that highlight the current situation recommendations are made which will add practical value to the study.
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Gurgenidze, M., Makaradze, N., Nakashidze-Makharadze, T., Karmanova, A., Nikiforova, Z., Sheleiko, V.A. (2022). Enhancing Teachers’ Digital Competence for Professional Development in Distance Mode. In: Rodionov, D., Kudryavtseva, T., Skhvediani, A., Berawi, M.A. (eds) Innovations in Digital Economy. SPBPU IDE 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1619. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14985-6_20
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