Ways for developing digital competence in future educators within a collaborative digital environment

The information age demands globally competitive educators who can systematically integrate digital technologies into their professional practice, manage the educational process efficiently, and engage in ongoing research to improve teaching and learning. Such professionals must possess advanced digital and creative competences. Therefore, it is essential to equip future educators with the necessary digital tools and skills. This article aimed to identify effective ways to develop digital competence in future educators in a collaborative digital environment. The research employed both theoretical and empirical methods, including abstraction, modelling, synthesis, testing, and pedagogical experimentation, among others. Key concepts examined include “digital literacy”, “digital competence”, “digital competence of future educators”, “collaboration”, and “collaborative digital environment”. The study outlined the benefits of fostering digital competence in future educators; the structure of digital skills and competences by the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators; the concept of “collaboration” as part of the 4Cs – cooperation, coordination, communication, and creativity; as well as the structure and key features of the proposed pedagogical portal, the Digital Educational Environment. A review was conducted of scholarly and pedagogical literature concerning the development of digital competence in future educators within a collaborative digital environment. An online course entitled Digital Learning Technologies was conducted, and an international online competition, The Most Effective Digital Educational Platform, was organised for prospective educators. Based on the outcomes of the study, content and discourse analyses were carried out to classify collaboration as a form of social cooperation. A collaborative partnership was established between the Kazakhstan universities – M. Dulaty Taraz University, Kokshetau University named after Sh. Ualikhanov and Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov – and the Kyrgyz university – Kyrgyz National University named after J. Balasagyn, represent a model of networked cooperation. The practical value of the study lies in the consolidation of intellectual resources from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan universities into a single channel, allowing prominent academics and methodologists from these institutions to combine their efforts in jointly developing high-quality digital educational content for pedagogical disciplines