Applied Digital Competences in the Innovative Didactic Methods: an overview study

Abstract

Although in both European Union and national policies there are many premises to bring to an acceptable level the digital skills of teachers in pre-university and university education, the current pandemic has signaled us about the lack of attention to this topic from all the factors involved (authorities - managers of educational institutions - representatives of the academic environment - teachers - pupils / students - parents, etc.) in the digitization of the educational process. It is noteworthy the case of the Republic of Moldova where still in the documents of 2017 were formulated a series of issues tangent to the deficit of digital education and, as a result, of modern quality education. These documents list such shortcomings as: (1). Graduates of educational institutions do not possess practical skills for activity in an information society; (2.) The shortage of qualified ICT staff in schools. (3.) Low level of supply of educational software to educational institutions. (4.) Low level of use of open-source software. (5). The ICT curriculum is outdated and there is no institutionalized process of regular updating. The year 2020 confirmed that the set of items to be adjusted with reference to the digitization of the didactic process, digital education, the development of digital competences of teachers and pupils/students, etc. it is below the threshold necessary for the normal functioning of educational institutions, but especially for the transposition of traditional education into the distance- learning format. In this context, present research, analyses (a.) European documents and actions of digitization; (b.) digital premises for educational purposes; (c.) the classification of educational platforms, etc. The author proposes the implementation of innovative didactic methods based on IT solutions, as solving the partial remedy of the problems previously reviewed. Additionally, the author of this approach defines the concepts of applied digital competence (ADC), and innovative didactic methods (IDM), making the difference between traditional and innovative teaching methods.