Abstract:

In recent years, the exceptionally rapid development of new technologies and their penetration into all areas of life make the future unpredictable, although undoubtedly based on various forms of human dependence on constantly changing new technologies. This perspective entails a necessary shift in teaching approaches at all levels of education in order to prepare young people to cope with the necessity to multiple re-qualifications during their working lives.

In the reports on education (e.g. Learning Compass 2030), the main needs for changes are identified in three basic dimensions: knowledge, skills and the so-called transformative competences – that is, the ability to influence the social and natural environment and be responsible for the consequences of these actions.

The education system at every level should prepare learners to function in a constantly changing reality. Among the possible perspectives for the development of the education at the academic level, the so-called generative learning is indicated, i.e. learning based on cooperation, interactions between people and the mutual transfer of not so much knowledge, but rather ideas and creative concepts (e.g. Schools of the Future, WEF Report, 2020).

The growing role of new technologies in the workplace, at school, at university and in everyday life makes the need to acquire lifelong learning skills more and more noticeable. However, learning in a lifelong process requires a special role of a teacher who has a good understanding of the ideas of student-centered learning, project-based learning, research-based learning or challenge-based learning and is well prepared in terms of modern academic didactics, developing his/her own scientific discipline and new technologies. The academic teacher must also be an expert in the field of IT as he must serve as a tutor to support the student in the learning process, involving creativity.

In this article I would like to present the current results of my research on innovative methods of developing professional competences of beginning academic teachers, observing their experiences during postgraduate studies in the field of ‘IT competences of an academic teacher’. Methodological aspects of this research and examples of good practice will also be taken into account.

Keywords:

Higher education, didactic competences of academic teachers, IT competences of academic teachers, quality of higher education.