СERTAIN ASPECTS OF DEVELOPING DIGITAL COMPETENCE FOR NON-FORMAL EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS WHEN TRANSITIONING INTO ONLINE MODЕ

Abstract

This article presents the results of an empirical study of the problem of transitioning vocational education into online mode during forced quarantine. The circumstances have sharply actualized the urgent need to ensure the continuity of educational activities in the new conditions, showed the real state of professional readiness of education specialists to work in conditions of uncertainty. The key sign of this state is a certain professional and psychological disorientation, which endangered the quality and sustainability of educational results. The formal and non-formal education specialists have been forced to adapt quickly to the new terms based on digital transformation. The focus of our research is on postgraduate education professionals. An important aspect of the research is a certain confusion about the essence of online learning. This applies to the misinterpretation of the definition of distance learning among the professionals, which does not distinguish between synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (delayed) modes. Fundamental differences in using the methods and application techniques require special training of relevant specialists. The results of the presented research reveal a number of difficulties faced by postgraduate education specialists, when they are required to move their activities online. First of all, it is educational activities around professional development, training courses for adults. An important task for the specialists was to preserve the essential features and results of such training: information, tools and experiences that are available during offline training. The main result of the study is the definition of the key areas to train the specialists to work online: psychological readiness to manage group dynamics and limited communication tools, digital competence – possession of specific digital skills (platforms, programs, individual tools online), methodological competence – the ability to choose and combine methods and techniques to work with data adapted to the online environment.

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