Liubov V. Kapustina

The relevance of the research is due to the fact that most of the university courses today are aimed at developing hard skills of prospective specialists without taking in consideration soft skills formation in training. Even if there are some courses to improve students’ soft skills, they are planned, as a rule, without taking into account the current employers’ demands. It is worth noting that soft skills development today is very important in the professional field in general, and in the IT area in particular. The purpose of the study is to identify an optimal combination of soft skills that are required of the candidates for IT positions and make the applicants competitive in the labor market. The paper is based on a theoretical review and analysis of national and foreign scientific works on the subject of research. A questionnaire was chosen as an empirical research method. The scientific novelty of the results, in contrast to the results of foreign and domestic researches on the issue, is the following: 1) technical knowledge does not always contribute to professional success in the IT area because it largely depends on how well a specialist is able to work, listen and interact with others to promote a project or solve a problem in a team, 2) soft skills are additional values of IT specialists but only on condition that they realize what kinds of specific soft skills will be required and will be able to develop them, 3) university can become a suitable area for developing a currently important set of graduates’ soft skills. The theoretical significance of the research lies in advancing knowledge on the students’ soft skills development in higher educational institutions in order to improve their professional ways. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the authors identified and described an up-to-date combination of soft skills based on the results of interviews in Russian IT companies: curiosity and willingness to learn, interpersonal communication, customer-oriented mentality, collaboration, problem-solving ability, adaptability, prioritization and mentoring. The reliability and validity of the results were ensured by a comprehensive analysis of national and foreign academic literature on the research issue taking into account the fundamental methodological principles and the use of methods appropriate to the study.

The modern development of the economy and industry in Russia shows a great interest of employers in mid-level specialists. Today, there is interest on the part of the state in improving the quality of secondary vocational education (SVE), and "Professionalitet" is being actively introduced, suggesting more shortened temporary forms of training. At the same time, an employer would like to have a ready-made specialist with well-formed professional competences and personal characteristics. The purpose of this article is to consider possible options for improving the quality of education in the vocational education system, taking into account the trends in the development of modern society. This work is based on a theoretical review, analysis and generalization of domestic and foreign literature on the problem of the research. Thus, the development of the society under the circumstances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is of great interest and dictates some requirements regarding the quality of education, the formation of competences, thinking. It was concluded that the presence of hard skills is not enough for a modern specialist, it is a great demand for creativity, the ability to spontaneity and improvisation, entrepreneurial thinking, courage, initiative. According to the studied literature, graduates of the vocational school have an insufficiently formed level of systemic thinking as the ability to analyze and make adequate decisions due to the predominance of clip thinking. Clip thinking, despite the speed of material analysis, is characterized by fragmentation and superficial assessment, which can negatively affect the successful functioning of a person in society. It is concluded that with the development of technology and clip thinking, the education system can no longer fully rely on traditional teaching methods, it must look for more effective and modern ways of interacting with students. One of these methods is virtual reality (VR technology). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the authors identified the need to develop systems thinking among students of secondary vocational education institutions and the possibility of its development through the use of VR technologies, described ways of using virtual reality, which helps improve professional skills, as well as imagination, memory, cognitive abilities , and make non-standard decisions.

It is well-known that studying at a university is the first step in the professional identity development. Unfortunately, not all applicants enter higher education institutions guided by their own beliefs, desires and hopes at the moment. Students are often guided by their parents’ advice or wishes in choosing a university and a future profession. As a result, we can see that students begin to experience difficulties with professional self-determination. They cannot independently work out their career plans and do not see prospects for the successful development of their future professional career. As a result, this situation can lead to voluntary expulsion of a student from a higher educational institution. The authors of the study tried to find out how to help students at a higher educational institution create a career path based on portfolio for their future work and give them an active role in this project. The authors of the paper developed a scenario for a professional portfolio and implemented it into practice in order to increase the future graduates’ chances for their successful professional career. We consider the portfolio as a process, product and tool that promotes reflexivity, personal assessment and self-presentation. It has the properties of self-assessment, self-focus and self-preparation, which are very useful within the curriculum. The portfolio contributes to building the professional identity during the studies and allows students to implement mechanisms that will operate later when graduates integrate into the labor market. The theoretical significance of the research is in consideration of the student's portfolio as a reflexive analysis of future professional activity. In practice, this study ensures career guidance, as reflexivity is involved in building professional identity. The scenario of the professional portfolio was developed and applied in practice in Samara State University of Economics in 2022-2023.

ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is artificial intelligence that can answer any user's question in the manner of a constructed text. It is already widespread and popular with most students. ChatGPT is able to write dissertations, pass medical tests or even make court decisions. However, it is worth noting that the appearance of this chatbot shocked the academic and university world: there was a scandal in one of the Russian universities in February 2023 because of a graduate qualification work written by ChatGPT neural network. The relevance of this research is due to the fact that this chatbot simultaneously attracts and worries the world pedagogical community by raising some ethical questions. Can ChatGPT clarify complex concepts and structure ideas in addition to creating smart mentors and teaching assistants? Is there any risk to create unoriginal, inaccurate or misleading content, as well as decrease creativity and skills? Will this tool be able to support pedagogical practice and successful studies, or will it endanger the fundamental education? What are the ways to reduce the risks by using ChatGPT in education? The authors of this research answered these questions. The scientific merit of the work is to consider trends in the development of artificial intelligence technologies in education, as well as possible scenarios for the application and impact of ChatGPT. Today, there are no clear rules in educational institutions regarding the use of artificial intelligence for educational purposes. The academic novelty of the study is that the authors identified and described the negative and positive aspects of using ChatGPT in education, and also formulated certain conditions to use painlessly the text generator in training. The methodological basis of the study is the analysis of Russian and foreign scientific literature on the development of artificial intelligence, in general, and the use of ChatGPT, in particular, as well as the synthesis and generalization of the results obtained.

The digital age has led to social changes, and people become more informed and connected. Consequently, the way of consumption has also changed from offline mode to a mix of online and offline one. In the era of digital technologies and economic crisis, service providers are looking for new sales channels in order to survive under nowadays market conditions. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that marketplaces in education are a relatively new phenomenon which has been gaining popularity in the last few years. They are online platforms that provide an opportunity for students and trainers to exchange knowledge, skills and experience. The first marketplace of educational courses was launched in the Russian Federation in March 2023. There are no analogues to it in Russia today. The purpose of the paper is to identify the prospects for the development of educational marketplaces in our country. The study of marketplaces in education is important, as it allows to understand the education processes, and to identify new approaches to training. From a theoretical perspective, the study of educational courses marketplace helps realize students’ needs and preferences, as well as assess the impact of technology on education and develop new approaches to learning. From a practical perspective, marketplaces provide access to a wide range of courses and subjects that may not be available in traditional educational institutions. This can be especially useful for residents of remote areas or citizens living abroad. In addition, marketplaces can provide access to courses on new technologies and specialized subjects. The authors of the paper point out both advantages and disadvantages of the introduction of marketplaces in education. They believe that marketplaces can be of great benefit to education as long as high level of security and confidentiality, as well as quality control and content monitoring mechanisms are provided. Marketplaces can be partners to educational institutions and experts to ensure compliance with educational standards.