ACTUAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF SOFT SKILLS IN CHILDREN FROM PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE USING INFORMATION AND INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
Authors: Dimitrova Krasimira , Georgieva Dimona 
Published: August 2019

Information and Internet technologies are some of the fastest growing ones. For a short period of time, they entered man’s life and became an integral part of it. Children, as part of society, fall into the group of users. The fact is, before children have learned to read, they already have the skills to use a tablet and a smartphone. Numerous studies have shown that early use of information technology leads to the so-called "computer dependence", which is the lack of important social skills - problems with communication with peers and adults, lack of the need to communicate, inability to express emotions, ideas, lack of planning skills and algorithmic reflection, etc.The article examines the possibilities of using information and internet technologies for the formation of soft skills in children from primary school age. It presents the current aspects of the problem in the present educational documentation in Bulgaria.Students use information and internet technologies outside of school, and the habits formed there are leading in associative behavior. It is precisely this reason to look at aspects whereby the school, as an educational and social institution, enables small pupils to acquire knowledge of the use of modern technology for learning purposes, and a number of soft skills are formed. The pedagogical aspects of the process require the observance of certain principles that ensure the formation and development of the desired skills - system, accessibility, consciousness, student activity, sustainability of knowledge, skills and customs, etc.The skills that are formed in the personality can be summarized and divided into three main groups - personal qualities; interpersonal skills; additional skills / knowledge. Soft skills refer to the first two groups and the additional knowledge and skills are related to specific academic and technological knowledge.Pedagogical literature defines five key competences that characterize skills: social skills; communication; thinking; self-control skills; positive individual concept. According to the authors of the article on the personality that will develop and prove that competitiveness is of particular importance, one of the most important skills is the transfer of knowledge.In the current primary school documentation, the learning subject "Information Technology" (IT) is studied as a PIU or an EPA. The training in the PIU is organized on the basis of curricula (developed by the Ministry of Education and Science) and educational books approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. The education in the forms of SIP is realized through programs developed by the teacher and approved by the school principal.In the current regulatory framework (Ordinance 5 / 30.11.2015) information technology in elementary school can be studied as a facultative class (FC) as the teacher independently develops a curriculum on the basis of the existing previous documentation. In most of the schools in the country, information technology is not selected as an optional time. In order to comply with the requirements of the ordinance and the adopted curricula for each subject in elementary school, it is necessary to conclude that primary school teachers should use information technology in all disciplines and thus form relevant knowledge and skills. This, in turn, provides an opportunity, besides purely technical skills, to form a number of skills. The availability of methodological guidelines in this direction will facilitate the process and ensure the implementation of ideas in pedagogical practice.