Abstract:

Rapid changes in the world on several levels point to the necessity to adapt education already in primary and secondary schools so that students are ready to succeed in the 21st century. The importance of developing competences that would help students respond to the challenges of the future and solve problems about which we still know nothing comes to the fore. The competences of the 21st century include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity and social skills. The appropriate implementation of technologies in teaching and learning is meaningful not only for the support of learning and the development of technology literacy, but also for other 21st century competences. However, the meaningful use of technology in education requires that the teacher knows the areas for the development of digital competences, as well as the possibilities and approaches for their development. The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp 2.2) clearly defines the areas and digital competences of citizens and it is therefore necessary to focus on them in education across different subjects (Vuorikari et al., 2022). The paper presents the specific possibilities of digital tools in the teaching of biology in primary and secondary schools. The use of digital models, simulations, databases, mobile applications, videos, but also work with data and image analysis or programming are important not only for improving student learning, but also for developing students' digital competencies in all areas of the DigComp framework. The approaches are also applicable in other subjects and point to possibilities for continuous teacher education.

Keywords:

Digital competences, innovation of education, digital technologies.