Future Teachers’ Digital Skills Development Through Professional and Vocational Training in Informal Education

The article updates the problem of developing digital skills in future teachers of specialized and vocational training. The possibilities of using informal education to solve this problem are identified. The need for developing modern digital skills of future teachers of specialized and vocational training based on competency-based, integrated, context-oriented and multimodal approaches is substantiated. During the experiment, a phased formation of digital skills is carried out: at the preparatory, project, training and final stages. The main task of the preparatory stage is to familiarize students with the features of using digital technologies, the structural components of digital skills and indicators of their formation. All students during their studies at the university take a course on the theoretical foundations of using digital technologies in education. At the project stage, the main task is to develop the ability of future teachers to professional self-management. Students of the experimental group additionally participate in a workshop and independently develop personal programs for the development of digital skills in the context of informal education. At the training stage, students of the experimental group implement these programs. At the final stage, students of the control and experimental groups perform creative work. Feedback on personal programs is provided by experts from among university teachers and practicing teachers. In the process of experimental work, the effectiveness of the development of digital skills in the context of informal education of future teachers is tested. The use of digital technologies is presented at three levels: household (low), user (medium), professional (high). The experiment shows the feasibility of using personal programs for informal education. Generalization of the results of the experimental work demonstrates the advantages of informal education in the formation of digital skills of future teachers of specialized and professional education.