Flexible programs for remote advanced training of design engineers

The aim of the work is to study the new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of additional professional education programs implemented using e-learning technologies, and to evaluate the developed methodological tools and methods for solving this problem. According to the authors, qualitative changes in the results of distance learning are more associated with organizational and methodological innovations and improvement of the content, rather than the development of information technologies. A brief review of e-learning literature is provided. Analysis of successful online courses was performed. It is shown that there are new opportunities to improve performance through the use of organizational and methodological innovations. The main methods of the research were system and comparative analysis, pedagogical modeling, content analysis, expert assessment and other empirical methods of pedagogy. The main material for the article was obtained during the development and experience of the distance implementation of the educational program of additional professional education to improve the qualifications of design engineers. The tasks associated with improving the efficiency of e-learning were highlighted. The main drawbacks of the programs of additional professional education typical for both traditional and distance forms have been identified. The author’s definition of the concept of flexibility of educational programs has been proposed and the basic requirements for flexible training programs have been formulated, and the new features of these programs for students have been shown. The article presents the competence description of the content of the program of additional professional education in the form of a three-package structure of electronic learning resources with an integrated virtual workshop. A comparative analysis of the three packages of electronic educational resources was carried out. Differences and the possibilities of their use in academic work were shown. The process of learning with a three-pack content is discussed in detail on the basis of a graphical model. The example relates to the program of advanced training for young engineers. The features of educational work that are realized in the form of an individual trajectory of mastering professional competencies that appear due to a flexible training program are highlighted. The description of the process of forming an individual distance learning trajectory and working conditions in a virtual workshop is presented in the article. Results. Based on the analysis of the experience of the implementation of the flexible program of remote training, it was concluded that such a program can eliminate or minimize the identified shortcomings of most advanced professional education programs. The effectiveness of the identified ways to eliminate the shortcomings in the programs of additional professional education has been confirmed in the experience of implementing a flexible program of remote advanced training for design engineers. It is shown that students can easily adapt the content of the program to their individual needs for professional development due to the flexibility of the three-package training program. The authors presented a model of the organization of remote training, which can ensure the professional growth of design engineers with different levels of special training and experience due to its flexibility. The conclusion is made about the need for flexible programs of additional professional education to increase the effectiveness of the continuous development of the professionalism of specialists working in high-tech industries.