Formation of career planning skills through virtual reality technology in the context of further education

The article is devoted to the study of the formation of career planning skills for 14-16 year old students using virtual reality (VR) technology in the context of further education. The use of VR to familiarize future applicants with the features of the most popular professions seems to be one of the promising areas of digital career guidance. The aim of this study is to determine whether the use of VR technologies in the implementation of additional general educational programs contributes to the formation of students' career planning skills. The research methods that we used were the experiment, the comparison and the questionnaire. During the experimental work an educational and methodological complex (EMC) consisting of an additional general educational developmental program (GEDP) "Fundamentals of the Medical Profession", including the use of VR technology, and methodological recommendations for teachers implementing this GEDP were developed. As a result of the study, there is a reason to confirm that the changes due to the learning process using VR technology contribute to determining the level of students' knowledge of their own personal qualities, the presence of personal interest in the chosen profession, competent guidance in the labor market, the formation of a job search strategy and the skill of writing a curriculum vitae and cover letters. The study focuses on the prospects of introducing VR as a tool for improving the quality of career guidance support for young people. The practical significance of this study is that an educational and methodological complex (EMC) which includes the use of VR technology for the effective organization of career guidance work was developed. The proposed EMC allows to increase the efficiency of career guidance activities ensuring successful integration of young people into the labor market and improving the quality of their professional choice. EMC can be used both together and separately by teachers of further education, educational psychologists and career guidance specialists in their career guidance work. The theoretical significance of the study consists of expanding knowledge about the influence of VR technology on the formation of 14-16 years old students' career planning skills and about the possibilities of using VR technology in career guidance classes in further education. The results of the experiment can be used in subsequent studies.