Digital transformation of educational space

Digital transformation of all spheres of human activity is a global world trend. In the last few years, it has been declared one of the leading areas of development in Ukraine. An important component of digital transformations in society is the so-called digitalization of education. It should be noted that this process is not simple and far from unambiguous. [3]

Digitization affects not only the content of education, but also its organization. These processes have mixed consequences for the positioning of the charter of both educational institutions and teaching staff. The necessary competences are most often acquired outside the walls of educational institutions, since educational programs, as a rule, do not keep up with the dynamics of technological development. The teacher from the bearer of knowledge and skills turns into a navigator who helps navigate new knowledge bases. Assessment of the content of scientific activity is replaced by formal details of science. The penetration of digital technologies into all spheres of life requires a new quality of education from the mass worker [5].

As early as 2020, radical changes in the organization of the educational environment have become quite a challenge for the domestic system of higher education. The transition to virtual networks from the space of educational classrooms, which happened suddenly and massively, intensified the practical implementation of issues that had been the subject of discussions among scientists until now.

The organization of independent work of students, effective interaction between teacher and student have become the main problems that require modern teaching methods and technologies. For teachers, the skills and abilities to methodically competently and technically optimally select the content of educational material, to be able to visualize the main parts of this content, to create cases for independent work of students, to organize interactive activities during the study of new material, to apply innovative methods that combine elements of mixed and distance learning have been updated etc. And in these conditions, competences in the field of independent learning, planning and self-development come first for students.

Therefore, digitalization appears as a key factor in improving the education system. In addition to the direct impact on the effectiveness of the educational process, digitalization provides a chain of indirect benefits. Thanks to digitalization, the educational process becomes more personalized, accessible and flexible [1].

Many universities have begun to develop their own digital strategies in response to significant changes in the use of new technologies, while lacking the vision, capacity or determination to implement them effectively. As a result, many institutions invested heavily in IT systems that did not provide the expected benefits and results. It's just that these institutions of higher education have not understood that what they really need is not a digital strategy - but a business strategy adapted to the digital age [9].

Staying relevant in the digital age requires a strategic vision across the institution, primarily from senior management with support from multiple departments, not just IT alone. The lack of digital literacy among teachers, scientists, students and staff requires early and deeper involvement to build an effective network of interaction. This, in turn, will become a necessary condition for achieving sustainable changes in the entire institution.

Higher education institutions that fail to adapt to this new digital age will be left behind. Whether a higher education institution wants to be a digital leader or simply stay relevant to the digital age, the time to act is now, even though «now» is too late.

Digitization is here, and it's here for the long haul. For example: today, always-connected mobile devices are everywhere; social networks are the main channel of communication for many people; the new capabilities of cloud computing enable the creation of new tools and products at a previously unimaginable speed; geolocation sensors create new possibilities for tracking and locating; digital media is the first choice of media today. The list can be continued. This leap is impacting and changing higher education and the academic community, and these changes will continue.

It is obvious that qualitative changes in the domestic educational space are impossible without global transformations and digitization - the introduction of modern digital technologies. However, digitalization is often perceived only from the perspective of a fashionable educational trend, being satisfied with its superficial implementation, using it for the purpose of evaluating students' knowledge or visualizing educational material, the functionality of cloud technologies, digital data processing, and software [2].

In fact, digitization involves a fundamentally new format of the educational environment, based on digital technologies that provide convenient and accessible services and platforms for increasing competitiveness, more effective interaction of all participants in the educational process, increasing its transparency, increasing the role of intellectual property, and developing digital skills.

Students have now become customers who bring their own digital expectations of the world to the university. These customers are more savvy than their predecessors, better connected and more vocal than ever. Students increasingly consider universities to be the main means of securing their own future employment, and not just a place for learning and self-development.

Students, as a more digitally savvy generation, expect to learn in ways that are more suited to their personal preferences and at their own pace, rather than being forced upon them by traditional system-based learning.

This young audience is rapidly evolving, embracing new tools and applications at a pace that even the most active institutions of higher education are struggling to keep up with. And as competition from trusted substitutes for higher education, such as colleges, advanced courses, and more, continues to grow, higher education institutions must demonstrate that they can provide the digital experiences that students now take for granted [3].

In today's digital age, where the voice of the education consumer is more critical than ever, turning students into advertisers and advocates for higher education is one of the most powerful marketing tools.

The modern world is filled with absolutely new opportunities for obtaining an education. More and more institutions of secondary, technical and higher education offer online courses, trainings and webinars. This, of course, also has its advantages, because training takes place in a convenient place, at a convenient time. Some alternatives are becoming more popular, such as home schooling or different approaches aimed at development without the use of books and a strict system of control. Such work stimulates creative activity, therefore, students begin to feel free in their work and can ask any questions about the discipline [8].

The main resource of digital education is information. Digitization of education is already changing the traditional system of education in the direction of forming its new quality. This is manifested in the following:

? the number of virtual educational platforms is increasing;

? one electronic resource can be used many times to provide educational services of different content;

? introduction of new technologies in education and digital educational platforms that provide services.

Determinants determining the quality development of innovative digital education are: establishment of horizontal and vertical connections between faculties, universities, enterprises, investors; creation of a national educational platform; intra-university mobilization of personnel; new technologies of motivation for participation and formation of digital and innovative skills; updating the educational program in the direction of its digitization; interest in the innovative culture of the university, its projects; the development of digital culture and the spread of the spirit of innovative activity; mutually enriching exchange between universities and faculties; young personnel in the field of education, which is ready for changes as a result of digitalization of the country's economy.

Another important «inhibitor» of using digital resources in institutions of higher education is digital literacy. This should be understood as knowledge, skills and confidence in using available technologies and devices to achieve the desired results. Therefore, universities face a real large-scale task of covering processes with digital technologies, especially the learning process [6].

It is appropriate to remember that it is also necessary to form the digital literacy of both the modern student and the digital competences of the teachers of the higher school. Digital education today is more than digital literacy. The importance of digital tools in the real life of children and adults is constantly increasing, and digital media literacy is a key characteristic of the 21st century.

To succeed in today's innovative economy, a person must possess new competencies - constantly updated, even compared to the recent past. The formation of the knowledge economy and globalization processes affect the structure of the labor market, increasing the dependence of successful employment and effective professional activity of a person on the accumulated human capital, the most important role in the formation of which is played by the level and quality of education.

There is an urgent need to develop digital competencies, to master the latest information and communication technologies for pupils, students, and teaching staff, which will contribute to the development of critical thinking, the ability to make independent reasoned judgments, and the ability to learn throughout life.

The use of information and communication technologies opens up new opportunities for the design and implementation of the educational process, and requires the assimilation and development of digital competencies. Information and communication technologies, in particular, make education more accessible, diversify the forms of obtaining it, ensure the continuity of education throughout life, the development of personally oriented education, etc.

The main trend in modern education is the introduction of the «lifelong education» model, which enables a person to adapt and develop his competences and professional skills in accordance with rapid changes in the economy, technology and labor markets. This model contains the following subsystems:

- informal education (according to the degree of institutionalization);

- distance education (according to the method of organizing the educational process);

- online education (by means of implementation);

- mixed education (combination of traditional and online means of education).

Distance learning, online learning, and blended learning are undeniably closely related. Distance and online learning technologies are used in blended learning. Online learning is used in distance learning, but it can also be done asynchronously. The concept of continuous learning, which appeared in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, is based on the need for lifelong learning in the modern technological world [5].

Informal education is also a trend of modern education, which is now an important component of continuous education, in particular in connection with the accelerated aging of knowledge. Informal education is the acquisition of new knowledge about various aspects of life through training through various courses, interest groups, master classes, etc. In the framework of non-formal education, as a rule, no prerequisites are required for starting education (preliminary training, age limits, etc.), there are no strict requirements for the place, time, terms, forms and methods of education, which allows a much larger number of people to be included in the learning process, than in formal education [7].

The most developed types of online education in Ukraine are distance and blended learning. Under during the pandemic and then during martial law, they provide opportunities to organize the educational process.

There are several more popular educational trends among consumers of educational services, which can be conditionally divided into the following blocks (fig. 4.):

Figure 4 The main trends of digital education in 2022 Source: Figure reproduced based on the authors' own research