Background. The transition from the analog economy to the digital one has been accompanied by the digitalization of all spheres of life, in particular the sphere of education, and according to the decree of the government of the Russian Federation, it requires a revision of goals, educational content, and the development of new tools that provide for lifelong learning, as well as the construction of new competency models.

Objective. To carry out a comparative logical-categorical analysis of various models describing digital competencies based on a review of domestic and foreign studies, and determine the content and place of digital competencies in modern competency models.

Design. Critical analysis and synthesis of the literature on the problems of digital competence.

Results. The vector of economic development in the Russian Federation will shift to the development of the knowledge economy over the next 10 years. This transition creates a number of problems: 1) The students are much more savvy than their teachers in the use of digital technologies, as they were immersed in the digital environment from early childhood; and 2) There is no single approach to the definition of the term "digital competence." The first part of this paper presents an analysis of the existing definitions, content, and types of digital competency. The second is a comparison of different models of digital competencies. The third part is about the inconsistency of the results of empirical research on the benefits and harms of digital technology for the mental development of children.

Conclusions. 1. Ubiquitous digitalization creates the need to develop a new competency model for the knowledge economy. 2. The concept of "digital literacy" is included in the concept of "digital competence" on the principle of "part-whole." 3. Science provides more and more evidence of the positive impact of the digital environment on the development of the psyche and human behavior. 4. A systematic approach to the formation of digital competence is needed in the form of specialized educational programs based on generalized instructions (indicative principles of action), taking into account the age characteristics of students.

In this article the authors comment and discuss the results of the expert 16 definitions of the term “competence”. The participants were 45 psychologists of higher qualification (candidates and doctors of Sciences) — members of the Internet community of psychologists on the website www.ht.ru. They judged all definitions by means of 7 different rating scales. The resulting data cube 45×16×7 was analyzed by factor and cluster analysis. It was revealed 2 significant factor reflecting the level of popularity of definitions (the first factor), as well as the proximity-distance from the pole of terminological Russian national tradition (the second factor), mainly related to the concepts of “PVK” (PIQ in English “professionally important qualities”) and “ZUN” (KAZ in English — “Knowledge Ability-Skills”). Rating of the definitions by academic specialists was appeared to be close to the national tradition and evaluation of psychologists-practitioners closer to the Western tradition. Using cluster analysis discovered 4 robust clusters: 1) the competence as an area of authority and responsibility, 2) competence is the same as “PVK”, 3) the competence as mobilization the knowledge and skills to solve a specific task, 4) competences are descriptive units (elements) of effective professional activity. The most promising and creative approach, according to the authors, is the third cluster, in which an attempt is made to search a synthesis of the domestic (based on activity theory) and Western (behavioral approach) conceptual-terminological traditions.

The article presents the results of investigation of a study of motivational readiness and competency of the graduate teaching high school for future careers. Th e main indicators of readiness: 1) presence of a positive professional motivation (PM); 2) positive expert opinion leaders about the practice bases of formation and manifestation of student competence in the implementation of professional activities; 3) the successful delivery of the student fi nal examinations. Trends in the PM of students during the period of teaching practice were identifi ed with the help of “Motivation techniques of professional activity” by K. Zamfi r in the modifi cation of A. Rean. To determine the success of the internship was used developed by the authors “list of expert assessments”, which includes job practices and competencies generated in the process of learning activities. These procedures allow tracking of the respondents (n=9) identify a positive trend in the change of PM and competence exhibited by them in the course of teaching practice. It is concluded that the possibility of using this technique in any pedagogical high school and has a profi le of preparation, “Applied Psychology in Education”.