DEVELOPING INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE OF PROSPECTIVE MILITARY SAILORS

Abstract

The readiness of future officers of the Naval Forces of Ukraine to protect the Motherland, to perform official duties in units and on ships, requires them to receive a high level of professional training. An essential aspect of this training is the development of information and technological competence. Modern requirements, including the transition to material and technical standards aligned with NATO, necessitate an elevation in the level of information and technological competence among cadets.

The scientific novelty of the article is that it presents the successful results of testing a set of classes for the development of information technology competence of future military sailors (Appendix A), and clarifies the essence of the concept of "information technology competence of future military sailors". In the framework of our research we understand this competence as an integral quality of a person which combines motivation, knowledge, skills, experience in the use of modern information technologies during professional activities related to the performance of duties of future officers of the Ukrainian Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (including  management of combat modules, unmanned aerial vehicles, digital weapons, the possibility of using artificial intelligence in combat systems, ensuring cyber security of weapons and military equipment, etc.). It is shown that the formation of information and technological competence of future officers of the Ukrainian Navy contributes to their development of qualities necessary for the successful performance of official duties.

In the research proposed by the authors, the components of the information technology competence of future officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are revealed. Among these components are the skills of searching, storing, processing and transmitting information; ability to work with high-tech devices; knowledge of the basics of information security and data protection; the ability to monitor technological innovations in professional competences, etc.

For researching the level of development of information technology competence of cadets a factor-criterion model of IT competence of cadets was built, the use of which allowed the method of expert evaluations to match each of the criteria with a certain number characterizing its development. With the help of a comparative analysis based on the results of two diagnostic sections, the statistical reliability of the differences in the signs of identifying IT competence criteria before and after the training of future officers of the Ukrainian Navy was determined

Considering the unique dynamics within a maritime institution of higher education, a systematic blend of lectures, discussions, practical training sessions, situational exercises, utilization of virtual technologies, and the undertaking of group and individual projects significantly elevated the level of information technology competence among future Naval Forces officers. According to the method of calculating the level of information technology competence proposed in the study, it increased by 9.98%, which is a statistically significant result.