THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TRAINING “SUPPORT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL COMPETENCIES OF PRACTITIONERS IN PRESCHOOL INSTITUTIONS” IS IN PROGRESS FOR 12,000 EMPLOYEES

As part of the project “Inclusive Preschool Education and Care”, activities related to the improvement of digital competencies of professionals in the system of Preschool Education and Care are carried out.

The Center for Teaching Improvement “Abakus” in Belgrade developed a program to support the development of digital competencies of practitioners in preschool institutions. This support program includes programmed unmoderated online training, mentoring support, and horizontal learning for preschool staff.

The online training “Support for the development of digital competencies of practitioners in preschool institutions” was developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Institute for the Improvement of Education, and the Center for the Improvement of Teaching “Abakus”.

The training is based on the Framework of Digital Competences of Preschool Teachers and Guidelines for the Application of Digital Technology in Preschool (2022 MPNTR, ZVKOV, ZUOV, CIP-Center for Interactive Pedagogy).

The organizer of the training is the Institute for the Improvement of education and upbringing, the training is implemented on the distance learning platform of the Institute for the Improvement of education and upbringing ZUOVEDU: https://obuke.zuov.gov.rs/.

Certificates of completed training programs will be issued by the Institute for the Advancement of Education in electronic form through the online application: http://sertifikati.zuov-katalog.rs/

The aim of the online training to Support the development of digital competencies of practitioners in preschool institutions is to empower educators, professional associates, and directors in preschool institutions in the application of digital technologies to improve the quality of the preschool institution’s work and support the child’s well-being.

In the Regulations on the conditions for establishing, starting work, and performing the activities of a preschool institution (“Official Gazette of the RS – Education Gazette”, no. 1/2019 and 16/2022) it was stated for the first time that it is necessary to plan that the rooms for educators have a desktop /laptop computer and printer. Accordingly, through the project, 112 preschool institutions were additionally equipped with sets of ICT equipment (laptop, multifunction device, web camera).

Supporting the development of digital competencies of educators, starting from initial education to continuous professional development, is one of the strategic goals of the education system of the Republic of Serbia in the coming period. According to the Law on the Basics of the Education and Training System, digital competence represents “the confident and critical use of information and communication technologies for work, rest and communication.” In the Rulebook on competency standards for the teacher profession and its professional development, competency is “based on the creative application and re-examination of professional knowledge, skills, and values ​​in a changing social and educational context”, which is especially important in the domain of digital competence, due to intensive technological development. Competences, including digital ones, represent a set of integrated knowledge, skills, and values, applicable in many situations and contexts, multifunctional to achieve multiple goals, solve different problems, and perform different types of tasks. (Framework of digital competencies of preschool teachers, group of authors, March 2022).

Specific training objectives:

● Acquaintance of educators, professional associates, and directors with modern digital technologies and online environments;

● Empowering educators, professional associates, and directors of PU to improve the quality of work both in direct work with children and in all areas of the practitioner’s professional activity by applying techniques of successful communication in the online environment;

● Support educators, professional associates, and directors in the process of continuous professional training and professional development.

After completing the training, participants will be able to:

 ● use modern digital means and tools, online environments for work, exchange, and learning; as well as mechanisms for communication.

● improve their daily work process by using digital devices and tools.

The training lasts 16 hours with a weekly workload that does not exceed 8 hours per participant.

The training was done on the Moodle platform.

The training covers the following thematic units:

1. Use of digital devices

2. Digital environment

3. Creation of digital content

4. Communication and cooperation in the digital environment

The training is intended for educators, nurse educators, special education teachers, professional associates, and directors of PU.

In the period May August 2023, the training “Supporting the development of digital competencies of practitioners in preschool institutions” is being implemented for 12,000 professionals from public PU.

The trainings are carried out in several cycles:

● Initial group of coordinators and mentors: A total of 245 participants on the portal, and 95% of participants completed the training

● First cycle – mentored participants: a total of 3,296 participants were registered for the training, 90% completed the training, and the rest of the participants are processing the content.

● Second cycle: it is realized through 5 rounds and so far a total of 8357 participants have been registered. Enrolled participants are processing the planned contents, registrations are not yet closed and new colleagues are joining the online training until the end of the week.

Currently, 11,898 professionals from PU are included in the training, but the registration of new participants is still ongoing.