Today’s digital era is bringing fundamental changes to education and requiring a transition from traditional teaching models to new formats. To support the digital transformation of the educational process, Abai University has launched the unified Abai Digital platform. To help faculty members master the ecosystem’s capabilities and enhance their digital competencies, a professional development course entitled “Digital Tools for Educators: Abai Digital and Microsoft 365” was held on September 22–23.

The course provided the University’s faculty community with in-depth training on new approaches to organizing the teaching process and the effective preparation of academic documentation in electronic format. The two-day professional development course was delivered by Daniyar Zhumabekov, Head of Education Development for Central Asia and Pakistan at Microsoft.

During the practical sessions, faculty members strengthened their skills in using the Abai Digital platform and learned how to maintain electronic gradebooks and effectively manage syllabi and courses. Participants were also introduced to ways of using Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Forms, and other digital tools in the educational process. In particular, a unified digital space bringing together all learning materials, syllabi, and assignments helps enhance the quality of education for students. Interactive assessment and prompt reflection through Microsoft Forms can also increase students’ engagement with their courses while promoting academic transparency and more objective assessment of academic performance.

Faculty members discussed key issues arising in the academic teaching process and received answers to their questions from the company’s representative. The course also covered ways to identify and correct errors that may occur when integrating methodological and practical documentation into digital systems. In addition, the University’s faculty developed practical digital skills and explored the effective capabilities of Microsoft technologies for education.

The two-day professional development course highlighted practical approaches to saving time and establishing prompt digital feedback with students in the era of digitalization and artificial intelligence. It became an important platform for faculty members to modernize the educational process through technological solutions.

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