Abstract:

The mass transition to distance learning worldwide was a challenge to review federal state educational laws' requirements on competence-based indicators of educational achievements, standards, and recommendations. Primary foreign language education is no exception.

The article discusses the main methodological issues of implementing distance English learning in primary schools; analyzes the degree of teachers' readiness to work in the conditions of education digitalization; describes the structure for creating electronic content and didactic, interactive aids.

As a result of existing international approaches analysis in digital didactics, the main difficulties in the field of knowledge and the digital technologies use in distance learning are identified. In the distance format, primary school teachers faced involving children in the academic language process and the inability to use new technologies. There was a need to revise traditional teaching methods and optimize them into interactive online content.

To effectively select methods of distance learning, a survey was conducted, in which 70 primary school foreign language teachers from Russia and some countries from South-East Asia and Europe took part. The study showed that only 25 percent of teachers have digital skills.

In the course of the study, the author developed the methodological recommendations "The Digital learning EduHacker: Tips for English teachers in Primary school" for the acquisition of the necessary digital skills and abilities of the teaching staff; worked out the online course in Primary school for English teachers; described a work's algorithm in services for creating and using interactive educational content, using it in teaching activities.

As a result of the study, the following factors have been identified that affect the effectiveness of the distance learning introduction in the educational foreign language process:
- staff training in digital literacy,
- interactive electronic content development,
- improvement of learning processes,
- improving the academic results of schoolchildren and their educational motivation,
- enhancing the parents and schools interaction,
- communication in the school network and joint projects implementation,
- improving the organization and educational process management.

Keywords:

Digital literacy and digital skills, Distance learning, ELT (English language teaching), Primary school, training professional development of teachers.