Abstract:

The road to the digitalization of schools is long and requires investment in digital technologies, equipment and teacher professional development. The European Union recognizes the significance of the digitalization of schools. Through its policies, the EU encourages the development of digitally mature schools with a high level of ICT integration in school management and educational processes. In recent years, the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science has allocated funds under national programs for schools’ digitalization. Successful instruments to guide school on the road to digitalization are so-called digital maturity models. The paper presents the developed model suitable for the evaluation of the digital maturity level of primary and secondary schools in Bulgaria. Based on the analysis of 16 digital maturity models, strategic and normative documents, and consultations with school managers and teachers, key areas and indicators for assessing the school digital maturity level are defined. The developed digital maturity model DigBGSchool contains 100 indicators divided into ten key areas (School Management, Learning Documentation, Training, Admissions of Students, Administrative Processes, Information Infrastructure, Digital Competencies and Support of Teaching and Administrative Staff, Collaboration with Parents and Students, Public Information, Quality Assurance and Inspection). Based on the grades of each indicator, the school's digitalization index could be calculated, and the digital maturity level of the school could be determined (Initial, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert). The developed model allows school managers to measure the digital maturity level of the school and identify the areas that need to be improved. In accordance with the DigBGSchool, a corresponding tool for evaluating the digital maturity level of schools is developed. A pilot evaluation of the digital maturity level of Bulgarian schools by the proposed assessment tool is in progress. The results from the performed pilot evaluation will allow measuring school digital maturity level and comparisons of digital maturity levels of schools.

Keywords:

Digital, maturity model, school education, digitalization, digital technologies.