Model for assessing the digital maturity of general education: methodological foundations and development technologies

Abstract

Problem and purpose. The general trends of digitalization and its consequences directly affect all levels of the education system, manifesting themselves in the creation of a digital educational environment, and related significant changes in the theory and practice of training and education, the introduction of electronic and network didactic tools and instruments, etc. In this connection, there is a need to develop models and tools for a comprehensive assessment of the level of digital maturity of a general education organization, allowing to determine the potential, areas and strategies of digital transformation of general education. The results of such assessment will serve as a source for designing profiles of the levels of digital maturity of schools, on the basis of which they can determine the deficits and effects of the digital transformation process. Purpose of the study: to develop a model and tools for assessing the digital maturity of educational organizations of general education. Materials and methods. In developing the digital maturity assessment model for a school, methodological approaches were used: process, system, qualimetric and a wide range of methods: morphological methods (distinguishing structural components of the system and their attributes), structuring methods (partitioning the system into hierarchical and matrix structures), group modelling methods (generating initiatives), synectics method (generating alternatives), methods of working with information arrays (search, processing, analysis of information), description methods (characterisation of structural. Results of the study. This study has systematized the ideas about the degree of study of the issue of "digital maturity" (hereinafter – DEM) in foreign and domestic Russian scientific publications: the approaches that determine the understanding of the DEM category have been identified and systematized, the depth of penetration into the essence of studying the processes of DEM diagnosis and their impact on the digital transformation in individual organizations has been analyzed. On the basis of this study, we were able to develop and test a model for the assessment of CP in general education organizations as a tool of predictive forecasting of general education development in the context of digital transformation. Analysis of the data obtained during the pilot testing on the overall integral indicator revealed: personnel problems (9%), problems with infrastructure support (21%) and the digital culture of general education organizations (15%). Conclusion. It is obvious that optimisation of the processes of digital transformation of general education will have a qualitative impact on the unified digital educational ecosystem of a modern school, contributing to the creation of new models based on big data analysis. The results of the study have confirmed that the timely acquisition of information on digital maturity by school leaders, educational authorities will allow diagnosing existing problems, risks, prospects and making adequate managerial decisions both with regard to the digital transformation of the general education system and specific educational organizations.