APPLYING THE DYNAMIC SUSTAINABILITY FRAMEWORK TO AN INTERGENERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The rapid development of society in recent years has forced higher education institutions to change the requirements for the training of future teachers. Digital technologies continue to be a challenge to the education system and are key to training future teachers in higher education.One of the main components of the professional competence of future teachers is digital competence. The formation and evolution of this type of competence relate to the tasks of each discipline studied in the curriculum of higher education institutions. The article identifies the main factors in the formation of digital competence of future teachers. Different approaches to the definition of digital competence of future professionals, the terminology used in the modern scientific literature to define the concept of digital competence are identified. One of the tasks of higher education is to achieve the level of awareness, the formation of a digital environment of information activity space, which ensures the implementation of educational programs, education of information culture and literacy in future teachers. The integration and globalization of social, economic and cultural processes taking place in the world, the prospects for the development of the Ukrainian state for the next two decades require a deep renewal of the education system and determine the advanced nature. Digital competence, which provides the formation of professional competence, is one of the main components of the model of a graduate of a pedagogical university. Keywords: digital competence; digital literacy; future teachers; information; information culture; information educational online environment; professional growth; applicants for higher education.

Digital transformation contributes to the creation of a modern educational ecosystem focused on training specialists capable of operating effectively in a digital environment. The article presents a comprehensive study of the process of formation and development of digital transformation in higher education institutions. The author identifies and characterizes four main stages of digitalization of the educational process. The proposed periodization allows tracing the evolution of digital changes in higher education, from the initial use of computing technology to the implementation of modern intelligent digital technologies and advanced educational platforms. The article analyzes contemporary scientific approaches to defining the concept of “digital transformation,” its stages, goals, and implementation features within the higher education system. Special attention is given to the technological factors of digitalization, which significantly influence the restructuring of the content, forms, and methods of learning, as well as the management of educational institutions. The impact of digital technologies on ensuring accessibility, continuity, and individualization of the learning process – key components of the modern concept of lifelong learning – is revealed. Some challenges accompanying digital transformation in higher education are identified, including digital inequality between regions, disparities in the technical equipment of institutions, ambiguous perceptions of digitalization by administrators and educators, and the urgent need to enhance the digital competence of all participants in the educational process. The article outlines prospects for further research on updating methodological approaches for training specialists in a digital environment, developing effective models of digital competence for teachers and students, and improving state educational policy regarding the digitalization of higher education in Ukraine. The importance of continued analysis of the social, technological, and pedagogical aspects of digital transformation is highlighted.

The purpose of this article is to identify the features of the implementation of a pilot project to improve the system of higher legal education on the example of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. Methodology: to prepare the article, general scientific and private scientific research methods were used, including analysis, synthesis, system method, formal legal method, modeling method. Conclusions. The article presents the results of the first stage of the pilot project to improve the system of higher legal education, including the development of independently established educational standards and educational programs of basic and specialized higher education. A distinctive feature of the new educational standard is that it establishes requirements for the implementation of educational programs not for one level of education, but for an enlarged group of specialties and areas of training for basic and specialized levels of higher education. The requirements for the terms of education have been changed. The developed educational program of basic higher education assumes a period of study of 5 years. The programs of specialized higher education — Master›s degree are differentiated into applied and research with an appropriate training period of 1 or 2 years. Scientific and practical significance. The paper presents a new approach to the creation and implementation of educational programs of higher education in the field of jurisprudence. The presented conclusions and suggestions can be used by educational organizations of higher education during the development of new educational programs of basic and specialized levels of higher education.

In contemporary society, digital competence has become increasingly important for people in everyday life as well as in working life. Hence, it is vital that today’s higher education contain an appropriate degree of digitization both in terms of content and approaches, something which is particularly important in higher education, where there is a pronounced expectation of what one should be able to handle in terms of digitization when one enters the workplace. Drawing on insights from previous research, this study seeks to explore the integration of digital elements in higher education pedagogy via students’ perceptions of digital integration in their education and evaluate their assessments of teachers’ digital competence. Special attention is given to collaborative learning practices facilitated by digital technologies. The research questions posed to guide the aim are: How do university students perceive the integration of digital elements within their education, and what are their assessments of their teachers’ digital competence in utilizing these technologies? The results show that teachers’ digital competence varies across disciplines which might influence their utilization of digital pedagogical methods and tools. Moreover, both engineering and non-engineering students reported varying levels of usage of digital collaborative learning methods which might reflect discipline-specific preferences and practices in collaborative learning. Also, despite high confidence levels in using digital tools, students exhibited limited awareness of existing digital functionalities. These results seek to inform pedagogical practices, institutional policies, and professional development initiatives to cultivate a digitally proficient educator workforce and have relevance globally for all involved in teaching and learning in higher education.

This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) investigates the role of pair programming in higher education, focusing on its impact on students' learning outcomes, collaboration, and programming skill development. As programming courses become increasingly complex, the demand for effective teaching methods has led to the growing popularity of collaborative learning techniques, such as pair programming. However, questions remain regarding its scalability, adaptability, and long-term benefits in educational settings. A thorough search of academic publications from 2021 to 2024 was conducted to explore these issues using databases such as Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, starting with 42 articles, of which 22 met the inclusion criteria for further analysis. Articles were excluded for irrelevance, mismatched titles, lack of empirical data, or unavailability of full texts. The review categorized its findings into three key themes: (1) Remote and distributed Pair Programming (RPP), (2) psychological and social dynamics, and (3) pedagogical approaches and tools. The results suggest pair programming enhances students' learning performance, particularly in introductory programming courses, by improving problem-solving skills and coding proficiency. However, challenges such as unequal participation and student resistance persist. The success of pair programming largely depends on proper implementation and teacher facilitation. While the review indicates that pair programming holds promise as an instructional strategy in higher education, it emphasizes the need for further research to assess its long-term impact and address its implementation challenges.

Purpose This study explores digital risk perceptions – the perception of risk related to digital environments – among older adults. Specifically, it investigates how these risk perceptions influence older adults’ frequency of digital engagement in everyday activities. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology involved conducting 22 interviews and administering 708 surveys among older adults living at home. The researchers examined how digital risk perceptions influenced older adults’ frequency of engagement in everyday digital activities. The study also explored the mediating role of digital risk perceptions in the relationship between older adults’ digital competencies and the frequency of everyday digital engagement. Findings The study identified six distinct categories of digital risk perceptions among older adults. Furthermore, it found that older adults’ digital competencies significantly impacted the frequency of everyday digital engagement. However, certain digital risk perceptions, particularly those related to privacy and security concerns and concerns about financial impact, mediated the relationship between digital competencies and the frequency of everyday digital engagement. Older adults’ frequency of participating in digital activities was influenced by perceptions of risk, highlighting the complex interplay between digital competencies and digital risk perception in shaping older adults’ engagement with everyday digital activities. Originality/value This study contributes to understanding older adults’ engagement in everyday digital activities by delineating six specific categories of digital risk perceptions. By identifying the mediating role of digital risk perceptions, particularly regarding privacy, security and financial concerns, the study sheds light on the nuanced factors influencing older adults’ willingness to participate digitally, which adds nuance and extends knowledge on digital and social inclusion among older adults.

Aim/Purpose: This paper encourages the reader to think about the role history, or foundations, plays in graduate programs in the field of higher education. In so doing it looks at the types of conversations scholars in other fields and disciplines have had concerning the value of teaching students to think historically in settings where history is not the primary mode of scholarship, before thinking critically about the conversation we have had as it concerns higher education graduate programs. Background: In many ways higher education programs have a complicated relationship with history. In some ways it can be seen as a central pursuit and in other ways it can be seen as a marginal scholarly activity. These two conflicting paradigms of central and marginal reflect a lack of scholarly discussion on what the field wants and expects from history. Methodology: This paper considers the scholarly discussion that has happened in three fields apart from higher education administration in an attempt to suggest ways that scholars in higher education programs might conceptualize the value and role that history should play in our graduate programs. Contribution: This paper invites scholars to think about what they want and expect students to gain from coursework on the history of higher education in comparison to what other fields have seen as the major reasons for including similar coursework. Findings: Despite a generalized commitment to teaching the foundations of higher education, the field has not been clear about what it expects students to gain from this type of coursework. Although it is easy to suggest that teaching foundations is important, there has been limited scholarly work that meaningfully grapples with questions about the value of foundations in higher education programs. Recommendations for Practitioners: As practitioners and researchers, we need to better articulate what we think foundations brings to graduate students in higher education programs and we need to do so in a manner that creates a single coherent paradigm for students. Recommendation for Researchers: (Included in Recommendations for Practitioners)

Students who plan to attend university frequently struggle with making decisions. The challenge of students' decision-making regarding study program selection in higher education arises from factors such as self-understanding, including intelligence, talents, and interests, as well as understanding of the educational environment and available information on study programs. The objective of this research is to create a recommendation model for high school students in Yogyakarta to choose information technology-based study programs. A model is employed to aid guidance and counseling teachers in offering guidance to high school students regarding their choice of study programs in higher education. This guidance is based on the students' self-awareness and understanding of their surroundings. The research described in this study follows the Borg and Gall model, which consists of 10 development steps in the field of research and development (RD). Data on the RPP-PT Model was obtained through questionnaires and interview guides. Data analysis involves the utilization of both quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing data. The study presents a recommendation model for choosing information technology-based study programs in higher education. This model is designed to provide guidance and counseling teachers with recommendations for college study program choices based on students' learning achievement, general abilities, talents, and interests. External factors, including parental expectations, should be taken into account when considering future development.

Digital competence in higher education research: A systematic literature review

Although research on Canadian higher education has advanced considerably over the past few decades, the opportunities for university level study of higher education in Canada are still quite limited. Only four universities offer higher education programs; only one has a higher education department; and only a handful of other institutions offer even a course in higher education. The number of students enrolled in higher education programs in Canada is about 200, compared to about 6,000 in the United States; the number of faculty about 15 compared to 700 in the U.S. Moreover, while American higher education journals have, since the early 1970's, regularly featured articles about university higher education programs, there has not been a single article on this subject in The Canadian Journal of Higher Education. This paper attempts to fill some of that gap by providing some basic information about the study of higher education in Canadian universities and by examining the role of these programs in the overall development of higher education research and the possible reasons for the very limited scale of such programs in Canada. The author's conclusion is that the factor which has most limited the development of higher education studies in Canadian universities is neither insufficient student demand nor limited employment opportunities of graduates, but reluctance of Canadian universities to allocate resources for this area of study. This reluctance is attributed to the combination of the low prestige of higher education as a field of study and the lack of a strong lobby for this program area outside the university. It is suggested that - in contrast to their American counterparts - presently Canadian higher education programs have less than the minimum resources necessary to make the advances that would be required to overcome this "prestige barrier".

The article deals with the concept of quality and compliance in the context of the short-cycle professional higher education (SCHE) program in the field of real estate management. The article highlights the role of graduates and employers in assessing the quality and compliance and surveys of students as well. The surveys of students, graduates and employers and the analysis of legislation allow assessing the quality and compliance of SCHE study program in real estate management. Currently, in Latvia, the qualification of a house manager can be obtained at three accredited higher education institutions, studying in a short-cycle professional higher education program, which, in accordance with European Qualifications Framework (EQF), is the first-level professional higher education program. The article will mainly focus on the quality and compliance of the house managers’ professional qualification acquisition in short-cycle higher education programs in Latvia. Data analysis, synthesis and logical construction methods have been used in this article.

The explosion of COVID-19 has brought new challenges to the education industry, especially higher education. Digital competency is becoming an essential competency for higher education instructors, and how to assess instructors' digital competency is attracting increasing attention in higher education. However, most studies have used self-report questionnaires or manual reviews to assess digital competencies, which are time-consuming and potentially biased, and there is a current need for valid and effective assessment methods. To address this issue, this study uses machine learning to analyze syllabi to assess the extent to which university instructors have incorporated digital competency into their courses. The results show that not only is the proposed method feasible, but the results of the assessment using machine learning are highly consistent with those of the human assessment. This approach contributes to the assessment of digital competency in higher education institutions and provides evidence that can be used as a reference for future research on the development of digital competency in higher education institutions.

This presentation will guide attendees through the presenter’s early career journey of securing funding and developing a practical tool- the InterGenerational Technology Engagement Checklist for Higher Education (IGTECH). Designed for early career scholars and professionals, this session introduces an innovative approach to creating an intergenerational technology program in higher education. Emerging research highlights the benefits of intergenerational technology programs, which bring together multiple generations for collaborative technology learning. Intergenerational technology programs have been shown to reduce social isolation among older adults while also addressing their technology needs. At the same time, younger participants gain professional skills and develop more positive attitudes toward aging. Developed through an RRF-funded multi-stage qualitative study, the IGTECH serves as a guide for university representatives to establish programs that foster meaningful intergenerational relationships through shared technology learning experiences.

Digital competence is essential to teacher professionalism in the 21st century, yet few have examined how religiosity shapes it through digital ethics, particularly in Islamic higher education. To fill this gap, the research uses a quantitative survey approach to investigate the mediating role of digital ethics between religiosity and digital competence among pre-service teachers. The sample of 164 students of the social and humanities field education study program at Islamic universities in Java Island, Indonesia was obtained by purposive sampling method. Data analysis was conducted using the PLS-SEM method to test the direct and indirect effects between variables. The results shows that religiosity positively and significantly influenced digital ethics (t = 11.351; f² = 1.232) and digital competence (t = 2.066; f² = 0.035). Digital ethics also strongly predicted digital competence (t = 12.543; f² = 0.958). The indirect test confirmed that religiosity influenced digital competence through digital ethics (t = 7.832), with an overall R² = 0.738, indicating a strong predictive model. This finding confirms that internalizing religious values through digital ethics learning can strengthen students’ digital competence. Theoretically, this study extends digital competence theory by incorporating moral and spiritual dimensions through the lens of Bandura’s social cognitive theory. The study urges Islamic higher education institutions to integrate these values into practice-based curricula, such as microteaching, to develop digital competencies that are both technically proficient and ethically grounded.

Higher education programs in business and management should prepare students for managerial decision making and business leadership not only for the current context of a company’s operations and strategy but also for that of tomorrow. To manage projects, processes, people, the knowledge of digital technologies is indispensable not only at the level of a basic user, but also at more advanced levels. Yet, the pilot study, conducted as part of this research, indicated that some business and management programs of European universities do not set the development of digital competences as a public priority direction. Therefore, it is important to focus more not only on digital competences, but also on the development of various tools and frameworks for the advancement of digital skills in IT-unrelated programs. The aim of this study was to create a framework of digital competences, including competence levels, for the students of business and management university programs by reviewing and mapping two EU frameworks – DigComp and DigCompEdu. The framework is suitable for the assessment of digital skills related to work and employability of learner managers in higher education contexts in the era of digital transformation.KeywordsDigital competencesManagerFrameworkHigher education