Digital Intelligence - New Concept in Context of Future School of Education

Abstract

Under the pressure of digital technologies, the current world of schooling has been undergoing changes at the global level for a considerable period of time. These changes have been incorporated into the lives of people to such an extent that it is not possible to simply distance ourselves from them. The situation is comparable with language, mathematical and social skills; these are also essential for humans and everybody perceives them as such. With respect to education, it is necessary to distinguish between two spheres. Digital technologies both support the process of learning (eLearning) and, furthermore, are themselves the subject matter of education, which means the teaching content. In this paper, we focus on the second of these areas.

From today’s perspective, digital technologies represent a field which is already very extensive and internally differentiated, yet very closely interrelated. Therefore, even in the context of school education, it is no longer possible to pursue the concept, where merely isolated skills are developed with the aim of mastering such individual computer programs that are expected to be encountered by the educated generation in their everyday life. It is clear that the needs of today's education are best met by the concept of digital intelligence development that includes eight interconnected areas: digital identity, digital use, digital safety, digital security, digital emotional intelligence, digital communication, digital literacy, and digital rights.

The paper deals with possible approaches to the development of digital intelligence in school education. It becomes clear that more than one path can be taken. Above all, it is however suitable to use a variant of a separate subject, which may be named differently, or the integration of the teaching content associated with the development of digital intelligence into other subjects. In addition, variously conceived combinations are possible and in fact desirable.