Digital mentor in the system of internal school professional development
Abstract. The article describes the experience of the Kaliningrad Regional Institute of education development in supporting the region’s pedagogical staff in mastering digital tools accompanied by digital mentors. The authors of the article, being current project curators, describe their experience in organizing the project, the process of forming a group of digital mentors, including selection criteria, conducting training, and evaluating their competence. Special attention is paid to the continuous professional development of teachers within the collective and the new role of mentors, providing a guidance to their mentees not only in the process of mastering digital tools, but also in specific educational situations. The article describes the project information base, including the portal, distance courses, and communication platform, as well as tools for assessing teachers’ acquired competencies, which are supported by digital mentors. In conclusion, the authors of the article conclude that in-school professional development with the involvement of academic resources of digital mentors is an effective tool for the development of the pedagogical community. The article describes the positive enlightening effect among all participants of the educational process and the high results in the indicators of using digital tools implemented in educational organizations within the framework of the federal project “Digital Educational Environment”.