Rantyuk I. Using Project Management Information and Communication Technologies in Informal Education by Specialists of IT Companies

Rantyuk I.I. Using Project Management Information and Communication Technologies in Informal Education by Specialists of IT Companies. – Qualification academic paper, manuscript. Dissertation for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in the Specialty 011: Educational, Pedagogical Sciences, Educational and Scientific Program "Information and Communication Technologies in Education". – Institute for Digitalization of Education, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine. – Kyiv, 2024. Abstract Contents: The study provides a generalized overview of IT company specialists' use of project management information and communication technologies in informal education. Analysis of scientific literature allowed refining and identifying the following concepts. Informal education aims to acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities, gain new and improve existing competencies outside the formal education system, and meet society's needs for adult qualification enhancement throughout life. It is proposed that ICT for project management encompasses the set of ICT tools used in IT companies for the project management process at all stages of its implementation, communication, visualization, planning, and progress tracking. It is generalized that competence in IT project management is the ability to possess professional or general skills required for the professional activities of managers in IT companies. Analysis of European practices in implementing informal education enabled the identification of critical issues of the educational process, which European companies are focused on during informal education. As a result, it is summarized that the implementation of the educational process in IT companies is an integral component of competitive existence and the development of employees' competencies, and the application of project management ICT plays a significant role in its implementation, aimed at fostering the development and enhancement of professionals' qualifications. As a result of the analysis of ICT for project management applied in informal education to develop IT project management competence in IT company specialists, criteria and corresponding indicators for the selection of ICT for project management in its use during the informal education of IT company specialists were formulated. It is established that for selecting ICT project management tools that are suitable to use in the informal education of IT company specialists, the following criteria for the respective groups of project management ICT should be considered. For the group of communication ICT: communication, functional-integration, project-technological; for the planning ICT group: communication-management, functional-integration, project-technological; for the documentation ICT group: communication-integration, project-technological, functional; for the visualization and collaboration ICT group: communication-integration, project-technological, functional; for the software development ICT group: communication-management, integration, project-technological, functional; for the real-time feedback presentation ICT group: communication-management, project-technological. Based on the results of the expert assessment, the following were chosen: Communication ICT: Microsoft Teams; Planning ICT: Microsoft Project; Documentation ICT: Microsoft 365; Visualization and collaboration ICT: Mural; Software Development ICT: Azure DevOps Services; Real-time Feedback Presentation ICT: Mentimeter. It has been established that the formation of competence in the management of IT projects among the specialists of IT companies requires carrying out a specially developed model, considering defined criteria and levels of proficiency in relevant project management skills. As a result, a model for using ICT for project management in the process of informal education by specialists of IT companies was developed, comprising the following interconnected blocks: goal-oriented, organizational, content, activity, evaluative, and result blocks. The author's model involves the utilization of Coursera MOOC courses: "Leading People and Teams Specialization" and "Engineering Project Management Specialization," as well as an author's course, "ICT for Project Management," aimed at forming competence in the management of IT projects among specialists of IT companies. It includes forms, methods, and means of training to be used to form competence in the management of IT projects among employees of IT companies. It entails assessing proficiency levels in the management of IT projects according to established criteria. The proposed model for using ICT for project management in the informal education of IT specialists can be implemented and adapted according to the needs of IT companies.