ICT Concepts Development in Educational Theory and Practice since the Time of Independence of Ukraine

Abstract Background and Aim of Study: The article deals with ICT concepts in the educational theory and practice of Ukraine. It is noted that scientists are exploring different aspects such as a concept, a strategy for implementing the concept, real experience, etc. The analysis of ICT concepts in education which were created during the independence period, has highlighted a number of contradictions that accompany this process. The aim of the study: to consider ICT concepts which were created in the system of education in Ukraine during the independence period.


Introduction
Education as a sociocultural phenomenon of state formation and development focuses on the set of achievements, problems and challenges that always accompany Ukraine during 29 years since the momentous event of gaining independence. Applying a metaphorical technique, we allow ourselves to use a conditional parallel to the interpretation of such words as "a focus" and "to focus", defined in dictionaries as 1) the point at which parallel rays (streams), refracted by lens or reflected by a spherical mirror, gather; 2) to adjust an optical system to get a clear image. In our opinion, the effective education system is the conditional point that focuses on (that is, reflects) the course of social changes, and which not only illustrates the process of state development during the independence period, but also it becomes the mechanism and means of this development itself. The system of education is the basis for a scientific analysis of many components, including the diversity of ICT implementation aspects in education, which collectively define a rare, unusual, exceptional, unique phenomenon and the name of this phenomenon is independent Ukraine. In particular, the National report on the state and prospects of education in Ukraine (Kremen, 2016) states that twenty-five years of Ukraine's independence have been marked by the formation, implementation and modernization of state education policy. In the period up to 2002, Ukrainian self-sufficient national education system which corresponded new social relations, gained an innovative potential for further development. Since 1991, adopted laws on education, scientific and technical activities have certified national selfidentification of education. The establishment of educational legislation began and the National Doctrine of Educational Development was approved (President of Ukraine, 2002). The next decade was marked by an increasing transformational impact on education because of European integration and globalization. In national education, the gaps between the best European and world practices were evident; it also touched the ICT concept. Since 2014, a new perspective on the quality level and social role of education has been established in Ukraine. The innovative Laws of Ukraine "On Higher Education", "On Scientific and Technical Activities", "On Education", Conceptual Principles of Secondary School Reform "New Ukrainian School" (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2016), numerous educational acts have been adopted. All these helped update national education systematically. Finally, the National strategy for the development of education in Ukraine in for the period up to 2021 (President of Ukraine, 2013) identified and consolidated main priorities of education at the state level. However, as it was proved by the educational practice, in most cases these are only slogans about the implementation of ICT concepts which sound really very well. The basis for this statement is the condition of the use of ICT in the learning process at all levels of education. Unfortunately, in the interpretation of real educational practice, they mostly perform the function of "a handle", that is, the means of fixing information at one or another level of complexity. World experience, which has been offered to Ukrainian educators by foreign partners for over 20 years (educational projects Intel, Microsoft, etc.), shows that the purpose of ICT is to create, develop and implement innovative ideas in all spheres of people's and country's lives. The experience of the conceptual approach to the functioning of Silicon Valley is a confirmation of an exclusive mission of ICT concepts in the world's socio-economic progress. Therefore, we consider the analysis of ICT concepts, created in the national educational theory and practice, is an urgent problem that requires a scientific research in several areas such as a concept, a strategy for implementing the concept, real experience, and so on. The aim of the study. To consider ICT concepts which were created in the system of education in Ukraine during the independence period.

Materials and Methods
In the study, the following general scientific methods were used: analysis (historical and pedagogical), synthesis, comparison, generalization. Historical and pedagogical analysis of various sources were used to see the historical dynamics in the development of the education system and the problems of developing ICT concepts in particular.

Results and Discussion
Scientists of Ukraine consider that it is urgent to study general tendencies of reforming the national education system not only as a single unit, but also in relation to the development and approval of the information society. Specific phenomena and processes related to ICT in education are also studied, challenges and reasons for failure for achieving goals of the use of technology in education are analyzed (Gurzhiy & Lapinsky, 2013). In particular, Bykov, Spirin, and Pinchuk (2017) state that Ukraine has imbalanced indicators or a significant lag behind the developed countries in the development of the information society. The authors refer to the results of international studies (International Telecommunication Union, 2016) and confirm the validity of the conclusion made by the experts who discussed the state of informatization of education during the round table talks: "the introduction of modern technologies is significantly delayed, but an internal and external digital gap is increasing; there is no consolidated national ICT development strategy. It slows down the pace of creation and exchange of information, knowledge, experience and technology" (Committee on Science and Education of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2016). Bykov (2009) emphasizes that general tendencies of informatization of education are the formation tools of information and technological platform of open education. Gurzhiy and Lapinsky (2013) analyze informatization conditions of secondary education establishments, and he also generalizes problems and topical changes. Morze (2010) as a developer of textbooks, techniques and many other aspects of ICT implementation, offers strategic techniques for overcoming difficulties encountered by teachers. ICT in high school is described in research of Melnyk (2016); Kostikova (2018); etc. The experience of Ukrainian scientists in the implementation of a whole complex of aspects under study is presented in (Ziaziun, 2014). However, there is a lack of specific researches that comprehensively analyze ICT concepts in Ukraine's educational theory and practice. A generalized definition of "a concept" (conceptiounderstanding) is a system of views, one or another understanding of phenomena and processes, a single, defining concept, which focuses on understanding the ICT concept as a phenomenon. We can assume that there is some inefficiency in the implementation of ICT in education of Ukraine and we have to deal with a lack of proper conceptual approaches, i.e. a coherent system and a single defining concept. In addition, the concept is not identical to theory or strategy, an educational policy or educational practice, but a specified identification is often accompanied by a scientific research, which leads to a traditional confusion for researchers in the content of definitions. In our opinion, it forms a number of contradictions that accompany ICT in the education of Ukraine (Figure 1). The question arises about the effectiveness of those ICT concepts that could be identified as leading in Ukraine's education. Since ICT concepts are dialectically linked to such global concepts as the information society and the informatization of education, they must be provided with deep scientific development, validation, validity, legislative documents, highly qualified specialists, logistical resources, etc. At the legislative level, since Ukraine's independence, a considerable number of laws, decrees, etc. have been adopted, and they cover this interconnection and determine the diversity of their implementation in education in order to create an information society in the country on the basis of inclusive informatization. Here are only the most significant ones that were defined during the first decade (Table 1). Even a cursory glance at the legislative field of the first twentieth anniversary of country's independence concerning ICT allows us to argue that the conceptual view of this problem is largely characterized by the Law of Ukraine "On the National Program of Informatization" (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 1998), this law has been systematically updated and supplemented over the years (2006; 2011; 2013; 2016), which affirms the importance of providing a conceptual approach to solving problems of social and state importance. The latest version of this law provides the following understanding of informatization: "Informatization is a set of interrelated organizational, legal, political, socioeconomic, scientific, technical and production processes which are aimed at creating conditions for meeting information needs of the society and a realization of citizens' rights on the basis of development and the use of information systems, networks, resources and information technologies, created with the help of modern computer and communication technologies (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2016). The National Commission is defined as a strategic regulatory authority of the country in the field of information technologies. The Commission carries out state regulations in the field of communication and informatization. The official site of this Commission states that the state regulations should ensure the systematic, comprehensive and coherent development of the country's informatization. The National Programme of Informatization includes: The Concept of the National Programme of Informatization, a set of State Programs for Informatization, sectoral programs and information projects, regional programs and information projects, programs and projects for informatization of local self-government bodies. The National Program of Informatization (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2016) defines a strategy for solving the Firstly, the concept as a defining notion should represent the national importance of ICT, and not just the disparate scientific or legal foundations of particular aspects of their implementation, mainly in the educational process at different levels Secondly, ICT strategies and programs should be based on a state-approved concept and should not be transformed into a set of loosely connected laws, programs, projects, strategies, etc.
Thirdly, a systematic content of the ICT concept should comprehensively cover all spheres of the country's life (science, economy, industry, medicine, etc.), as well as the society and every individual, but this content should not be reduced to some separate sectoral developments, even highly effective ones IJSA problem of providing information needs and information support for socio-economic, environmental, scientific, technical, defense, national, cultural and other activities of national importance. Main areas of informatization are presented in Figure 2.  Although, the position on informatization of science and education in the list above is almost the last, in our opinion, the content indicates that the process of expected conceptualization of ICT has begun. Among the documents adopted during the specified period, only two were designated as concepts: 1) the Concept of Development of Distance Education in Ukraine (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2000), and 2) the Concept of General Secondary Education (a 12-years school) (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2001). Both concepts formally fit the purpose, but rather give a desirable perspective on ICT implementation. For example, the Concept of General Secondary Education (a 12-years school) (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2001) only states that students need to own a computer, but obviously this is not enough. We support Vashkevych's (2016, p. 133) statement about the essence of the conceptualization phenomenon as the basis for the conclusion: "Conceptualization is a theoretical organization of ontological representations. It reflects possible tendencies for changes of a reference field of the research and allows us to produce new hypotheses about the character and nature of interconnections of the information society, evolving in the conditions of globalized society and which is described in special termsconcepts. The conceptual scheme determines a theoretical understanding of study integrity, supports the systematic representation and semantic essence of a research paradigm. Within the structure of scientific theory, the conceptual scheme of research is being transformed as a fundamental theoretical scheme, which should be interpreted as the scientific picture of the world in the context of the historical evolution of the scientific picture of the world". According to this approach, the ICT concept in education as a phenomenon of national importance at a goal-setting level should be recognized as the basis of strategies, programs, projects, etc. at all levels of country's existence, and, of course, in the field of education, based on its priority role, ensuring its own concept. It is evident that most European countries have developed and implemented their national ICT concepts as a wide range of actions at the national level, ensuring the use of the Internet by all citizens, acquiring ICT competences in the education system of different levels and purpose, as well as specifying ICT strategies in education as a key public sector. The Eurydice European Education Network has carried out a comparative analysis of Key Data on Learning and Innovation through ICT at School in Europe (EACEA P9 Eurydice, 2011). The activities of schools in more than 30 European countries in 2009-2010 were analyzed: how they teach in general and how they teach ICT in schools, how they use ICT to bring innovation to the educational process, and how they support students. The evolution of ICT infrastructure at schools was also studied in terms of networking, hardware and software development. The use of ICT in the educational process and their implementation in curricula were also under the research. The role of ICT in the formation of the 21st century skills was examined separately. They found that The benchmark in the integration processes of Ukraine is the analysis of Turkish scientific research. Ozar (2013a) demonstrates the need for planning, implementation and evaluation of educational experience in schools. The author emphasizes on the need to identify the cognitive, affective, dynamic and social features of students. In his opinion, it is important to regularly monitor the development stages of each aspect in the process and communicate the results to all interested parties (Ozar, 2013a, p. 25). Exploring the problem of continuous learning, Ozar (2013b) in another publication claims that education professionals can help another person learn. For this reason, in schools should focus on the phenomenon of learning. "Teachers" teaching at the school according to the principles of traditional education, mainly act by the reflex of controlling the behaviour of "students" (Ozar, 2013b, p. 39).
In 2010, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Concept of the State Targeted Program on Introducing ICT into the Educational Process of Secondary Educational Establishments "One Hundred Percent" for the period up to 2015 in order to realize equal access to quality education, comprehensive approach to the use of modern technical, methodological, educational information resources, building the information society. The draft of National Strategy for the Development of Education in Ukraine for 2012-2021, approved by the third all-Ukrainian Congress of Teachers, prioritized the introduction of ICT to ensure the improvement of the educational process, the accessibility and effectiveness of education and preparation of the young generation for social life. The timeliness and importance of these documents have been exacerbated by the demands of educational IJSA practice, and they have begun the process of developing conceptualization of education concerning ICT. We share Zhaldak's (2013) opinion that the problems of informatization of the educational process are complex and, above all, pedagogical. These problems determine the content of a new branch of pedagogical knowledge that goes far beyond the school course of informatics and covers the whole educational process, which becomes more democratic and humanistic because of the skillful ICT application. Thus, the prerequisites for the justification and implementation of open educational systems are created. Consequently, the emergence of such concepts is conditioned by the renewal of public needs and citizens' individual requests for effective education.
In 2016, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine published the first version of "Conceptual Principles of Secondary Education Reform" and invited everyone to discuss it. The document made the ideology of changes in education clear, and it was embedded in the draft of a new basic Law "On Education". The sociopolitical dialogue over the Conceptual Framework for more than 3 years has led to numerous responses both in the media and on social networks. The introduction to the New Ukrainian School concept states that more than 60 letters with comments and proposals were sent by active citizens and public organizations, individual educators and pedagogical teams of educational institutions as well as by local education councils. As a result of the dialogue, a revised version was created. Of course, all the proposals cannot be taken into account, but we tried to satisfy public requests, add essential points, take into account constructive criticism. Thus, the New Ukrainian School is, in fact, the first document in education that conceptually corresponds to the content and purpose.
In particular, the Concept defines the formula of a new school: the school should be at the forefront of social changes, because "in Ukraine, as well as in the whole world, the so-called generation Y, or "children of the millennium", is gaining its value. For them life means is constant creativity, harmony between making money and learning something new, self-improvement and having fun". The formula of the new school consists of nine key components, including the "cross-cutting use of information and communication technologies in the educational process and management of educational institutions and the education system. The introduction of ICT in the educational sector must move from oneoff projects to a systematic process that covers all activities. ICTs will significantly increase a teacher's capabilities, optimize management processes, and as a result form the technological competencies which are important to our students in this century" (Ministry of Education More than 20 expert interviews, extensive desk studies on the best foreign experience, three working group meetings, an extended meeting on the role of e-textbooks, more than 10 workshops and Skype conferences were organized. In order to implement the Concept, memorandums of understanding public, international and donor organizations will be signed. By the end of 2020, the legal acts which are necessary to start the process will be elaborated. The documents will be developed as a result of a dialogue between experts, stakeholders, government agencies, public and international organizations. Thus, as a concept, the National Educational Electronic Platform (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2018) defines a set of documents, measures, resources to achieve the expected results in providing secondary education recipients with E-textbooks and other electronic educational resources. Scientists Sosnin and Kononets (2017); Voronkova (2015) consider new information and technological realities of communication in the scientific and educational activities to be the key features of innovative development of society defines the Internet as a new supranational reality, Kyrychenko (2017) points to the conceptualization of the ideology dimensions of the information society in the humanitarian and scientific discourse of the 21st century. Predicting the further development of conceptual models in educational policy, most participants of the International Conference "Education Reform in Ukraine: Information and Analytical Support" (State Scientific Institution "Institute of Educational Analytics", 2017) noted that aspects related to ICT needed 1) the methodology of researches to be updated, 2) to identify relevant issues, 3) to have practical orientation, etc. For example, Savchenko (2017) points to the need for scientific substantiation of public administration principles (in accordance with the theory and practice of public educational policy) and a conceptual definition of a public management paradigm.

Conclusions
To conclude the article, it should be noted that ICT concepts in Ukraine's education, created during the independence period, reflect the course of a controversial process of a state formation. Being innovative by design, concepts, laws, strategies, programs, etc. have been based on traditional, or even outdated, principles of state development. A legislative approval of the National Program of Informatization and periodic changes in innovative nature of its content in relation to ICT in education, showed progressive trends of conceptual importance. The markers of positive changes that accompany the development of the information society in Ukraine and modernization of the education system are the Conceptual Principles of Secondary School Reform "New Ukrainian School" and other electronic educational resources "National Educational Electronic Platform". Acceptance of these concepts by society and the state as common values optimizes the further development of ICT in education. Therefore, the near-term outlook of our scientific exploration are linked to the identification of new trends of conceptual importance in educational practices, focused on the effective use of ICTs and the study of their impact on overcoming contradictions in the educational space of Ukraine.

Funding source
This research did not receive any outside funding or support.