Digital engineering school on the way to digital production

Identifies approaches for improving and enhancing the quality of pre, basic, and additional school’ engineering education according to key paradigm "Industry 4.0" based on the development and wide application of information and communication technology with opportunities in research areas of Industrial Informatics. As an example of implementation, innovative research and educational project of the Digital engineering school is considered, including designed for the practical implementation of continuous engineering education "School-University-Enterprise". The main objectives of the project "Digital engineering school" are formulated and disclosed, the approach to teaching programming in high-level languages using microcontrollers and microprocessor technology is highlighted, practical recommendations are given for its implementation in the structure of school education for both students and teachers.


Introduction
The modern period of development of industrial society is characterized by a significant impact on it of information and telecommunications technologies, which are increasingly penetrating all spheres of human activity, without exception, ensure the dissemination of information in society and, at the same time, forming a global information space. An integral and important part of these processes is the penetration of modern info-communication technologies into the sphere of education and industrial manufacturing [1].
Today, the task facing an educational institution of any level is to create and develop an information educational environment, which is "a set of information and information-educational solutions based on general rules and approaches of the concept, contributing to the creation of conditions for the successful implementation of the goals of Federal and other state educational standards and Federal and other state requirements for educational programs and services, updating the forms, tools, technologies, and methods of implementing educational programs and services, teaching disciplines and spreading knowledge, expanding the availability of quality education" [2].
Today the development of the information educational environment is becoming one of the engines for creating an innovative "Digital economy", the basis for high-quality training of qualified practiceoriented personnel for the introduction of "Digital production" in Russia.
One of the main objectives of "The Information society development Strategy" is to improve the quality of education through the development and use of information and communication technologies. The integrated educational environment can be considered not only as a means of improving the quality of educational process based on the development of digital services for teachers and students [2], formalization and integration of various educational resources in a single information and communication space of educational institution but as a full participant (subject) of the educational process [2,3].

Industrial informatics
Industrial Informatics as an independent scientific and engineering field arose at the junction and as a result of the rapid development of science, technology, and information technologies. The term "Industrial" refers to the creation of real industrial software applications, and "Informatics" refers to the infrastructure that provides their development, implementation, and maintenance throughout the entire lifecycle of their existence. Also, Informatics as science offers tools and methods for analyzing, processing, converting, and transmitting the information. Industrial Informatics focuses primarily on knowledge-based automation as a means of reengineering and modifying industrial production processes. Industrial Informatics is not limited only to Metalworking industries, but also includes knowledge branches such as computer control systems, robotics [4], intelligent video surveillance and image processing systems, as well as data collection of various nature and processing of multidimensional signals, where mathematical methods and tools of Informatics are most widely used [5]. Industrial Informatics has a set of methods and practices that use the analysis, processing, and dissemination of information to achieve more meaningful results in terms of efficiency, reliability, and/or safety in the industrial environment. The field of Industrial Informatics has become one of the key areas for intelligent control and digital production technologies. The applied meaning of Industrial Informatics can be presented in the following form: Industrial Informatics is a set of approaches to the problem of the real world of industrial production and IT-tools and methods for their effective solution.
Information Technology (IT) design tools for various industries differ depending on the nature of the operation of a particular industry. For example, the application of IT in the manufacturing industry includes process modeling, production planning and management, distributed inventory management, and knowledge management systems for applied scientific research, etc.
Industrial Informatics is a "multistory building" built on the foundation of "classical" Informatics using the theory of algorithms, fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, artificial immune systems, evolutionary and genetic algorithms, etc., industrial design of information systems, as well as accumulated significant practical experience in the field of theoretical and applied Informatics. Industrial design processes are defined as a set of logically related tasks that are performed to achieve a specific result, while the industrial production process is defined based on the customer's requirements and business interests. Today, the use of digital industrial technologies for maximum automation of various production processes and the creation of unmanned technologies is a key direction of the technological development of production facilities not only in Russia but also around the world, which determines their efficiency and competitiveness.

Industry 4.0 and the training of specialists for the industry
Currently, Russia is rapidly developing new approaches and principles for the functioning of the economy -"Digital economy" and industrial production -"Digital production", aimed at entering the world's scientific-educational, engineering-technological, economic, and information space. This process is accompanied by significant changes in the system of engineering education itself, associated with the introduction of significant adjustments to the content of educational technologies, primarily practice-oriented.
This corresponds to the modern challenges of the era of "Industry 4.0" and is provided by technical capabilities (software and hardware) involved directly in the implementation of education, contributing to the harmonious entry of an individual into a dynamically changing information industrial society. The 3 system of modern multilevel innovative education is designed to provide, first of all, the training of highly educated people and highly qualified specialists capable of professional growth and professional mobility in the context of informatization of society and the development of new knowledge-intensive technologies in the fields of industry and machine-building production, including the use of methods and tools of Informatics [6].
It is also important that there is increasing interest in training a graduate who could be called "engineering educated" and/or "engineering literate", and therefore, a future highly qualified industrial specialist of the era of "Industry 4.0" [7]. So the graduate knows the essence of the subject mathematics has an idea about the features of the mathematical method of knowledge of reality, knows the leading concepts of mathematics and know how to operate them, fluent in mathematical language and mathematical symbols, is the idea of simulation, design and gained experience in their application for the solution of educational technical and information technology tasks, have an understanding of modern trends in science, engineering, technology, and their influence on socio-economic development of society, joined to the experience of creative activity and know how to apply it in other areas, has a high level of emotional intelligence and professional ethics [8].
So based on the results of the survey, carried out by the Educational Bureau "IoT Lab" within their research relevance of digital technologies in educational institutions of General and additional education, you can see the trend of changes in General education-related responses to the challenges of the digital economy. 324 teachers and heads of educational organizations from 16 regions of the Russian Federation took part in the survey [9].
When answering the question (figure 1), you can see that the 5 most common changes indicated by respondents are the following: the formation of digital literacy; the development of Soft Skills; the creation of open databases of educational materials for teachers; the development of analytical thinking; the possibility of obtaining a profession.
Besides, it indicates the need for building engineering skills, ensuring the integration of engineering and digital skills, as well as acquire programming skills.  The educational project discussed at various government levels involves creating a scalable model of domestic engineering career guidance and training, ensuring mass implementation of modern approaches to the development of team's engineering skills in children of different ages throughout the country, as well as building a continuous engineering education contour that solves the tasks of technological breakthrough and increasing labor productivity in digital production [10].

Digital engineering school
A sociological study "Existing internal deficits of low-performing educational organizations" was conducted in Moscow city pedagogical University in 2020 according to the research project "Development and testing of the model of the center for strategic consulting of low-performing schools based on the University". More than 500 respondents took part in the survey, mostly representatives of educational organizations in Moscow.
It should be noted that the obtained results of sociological research give an understanding of the criteria for improving the quality of educational activities, among which the main one is the possession of modern most effective educational technologies by teachers.
The survey results shown in figure 2 demonstrate a noteworthy distribution of responses to the question about the most effective educational technologies (the sum of responses is more than 100% because of respondents' multiple choices). Here are just the most common answers: technologies of developing learning -56.8%; health-saving technologies -50.9%; game technologies -50.6%; technologies of problem-based learning -47%; project activities -32.3%; technologies of developing critical thinking -32%; traditional technologies -30.1%; technologies of personalized learning -28%. Along with this, the following priority activities in working with students were identified (figure 3), showing low educational results: motivate students -77.9%, conduct individual consultations -53.3%, develop self-discipline and self-organization skills -50.3%, use programs for individualization of students -44.8%, involve parents in the educational activities of students -40%.  Figure 3. Results of the survey on priority activities.
The obtained results of sociological research generally reflect the General trend in the need to implement the project "Digital engineering school". This will help to improve the quality of school education and reduce the number of low educational results.
Within the framework of the discussed educational project in Moscow school education, the project "Digital engineering school" is being formed, which is a system of modern convergent education of students, ensuring the formation of engineering competencies that are in demand in the digital economy sectors.
The main objectives of the Digital engineering school project are following: • create a model of the educational space that allows students to develop innovative, technological and business competencies; • ensure the implementation of project activities in schools as a mechanism for learning through action and developing skills; • form approaches, organize training and professional development of teachers following the requirements of meta subject in the digital economy; • increase the number of students engaged in various forms of engineering and technical creativity, taking part in scientific and technical and educational events; • sign contracts/agreements with universities and industrial enterprises-industrial partners for the implementation of project training on their basis.
The project "Digital engineering school" allows students, first of all, pre-specialized and specialized engineering classes within the framework of basic and additional education to creatively transform and improve the school space using "smart" digital technologies and the institute of mentoring. At the same time, practice-oriented education of students based on a tripartite cooperation agreement "School-University-Enterprise" is considered as the main one, taking into account the competencies contained today in professional standards, for example, such as programmer, database administrator, information systems specialist, graphic and user interface design specialist, web and multimedia application designer, mobile robotics operator, mechatronics and some others [2,8]. At the same time, a special place in the implementation of the Digital engineering school is occupied by the industrial partnership, which implies the following: providing "children's" engineering cases for their implementation; participation of researchers, ITR partners, teachers, and students in specialized design and research activities; joint participation in children's and youth scientific and technical competitions, research and educational projects, thematic conferences and other events; preparation and participation in professional skills Championships held using the WorldSkills method; conducting specialized Olympiads, creative competitions (hackathons), educational scientific events and excursions for schoolchildren to research organizations and production sites targeted training at a University with a guarantee of employment at its end, or a deferred employment contract with an industrial partner [5][6][7].
Targeted training at the University is possible in a wide range of areas, both undergraduate and specialty, including Applied mathematics and computer science; Information systems and technologies; Software engineering; Information security of automated systems; automation of technological processes and productions; Design of technological machines and complexes; Management in technical systems and some others.
The following practice-oriented stage blocks for the implementation of the Digital engineering school project are considered: • Formation of the digital environment of the augmented reality educational organization.
• Information and communication technologies in research and media activities of students.
• "Smart" navigation in the digital space of an educational institution.
• A "lean" and safe school based on the Internet of Things technology.
• Mobile assistive and industrial robotics in a digital school.
• Mixed reality and industrial Internet of Things in a digital technological environment.

IT and programming in the digital engineering school
A special role and place in the implementation of the above-mentioned blocks are given to comprehensive training in high-level programming languages, the possession of which allows developers to become key players in it services market and have a significant impact on the formation of the digital environment, taking into account its reliability and significance. Programming skills are widely demanded not only in the automation of production processes, robotics but also in various areas of engineering development and research that require the use of modern means of microprocessor technology, processing and analyzing large amounts of heterogeneous information to obtain an effective result, as well as to ensure their scalability. This growing trend is also being actively extrapolated in the field of education [8].
Currently, many secondary schools have opened and operated engineering classes and clubs where students learn high-level programming languages.
The key tasks of continuing education, in addition to teaching the basics of programming in highlevel languages, are the formation of students' fundamental knowledge based on an understanding of the device of microprocessor technology, the principles and mathematical foundations of obtaining, processing, and transmitting information, the application of the acquired skills for solving a wide range of problems. Special attention is paid to the purposeful teaching of students to create a working prototype as a result of joint project activities.
However, as the practice has shown, this kind of educational activity is associated with certain difficulties.
Thus, the students of pre-specialized and specialized engineering classes have no systematic intersubject connections, which prevents the formation of an independent mechanism for synthesizing solutions in various fields of knowledge. Unstable, disparate knowledge of basic school disciplines, aggravated by a lack of understanding of the specifics of modern technological and social processes, lead to the presence of a significant "distance" of the school from the engineering University [9]. One of the most effective solutions to address these problems is Digital engineering school. In General, this project prepares students for effective work in the digital economy through immersion in an intensive, meaningful educational environment aimed at teaching programming [11].
The staff of the project is not only teachers but also invited specialists from higher educational institutions and flagship enterprises-industrial partners directly involved in the implementation of the educational process.
Briefly focus on the main discipline of additional education "Fundamentals of Programming". It is taught through the prism of the set of fundamentals of control theory, Cybernetics, microprocessor technology and computer science, theoretical foundations of electrical engineering, and industrial electronics, reflecting the practical aspect of the hardware implementation of the project.
Learning begins with a seemingly trivial task of presenting the information. Students are asked to look at the already well-known forms of recording information (Arabic, Roman numerals, letters of the alphabet) for Informatics. The generalized understanding is concretized on the example of information representation in binary form, and on the example of the basics of hardware device of microprocessor technology explains the choice in favor of information representation in binary form, while Parallels are drawn with the simplest basic analogs of control theory, familiar to every student from everyday experience: with buttons, switches, cranes, jacks, etc.
For design and experimental activities, microprocessor devices and hardware components compatible with them are used, which are most widely used in industrial automation and the development of prototypes of automated systems (AS), on various microcontrollers, implemented, in particular, on Amtel ARM and AVR microprocessors [12].
The functional task of the AS is to collect data for their mining analysis, as well as to predict failures of equipment connected and operating as part of the LAN. Data from a programmable microcontroller is collected and analyzed using software developed in C/C++ languages, taking into account the architecture of the computer network, for this purpose industrial interfaces and protocols are used, for example, such as RS-232, RS-485, or TCP/IP. Directly in the learning process understands the relationship between the volume of information and the size of a digital memory electronic component, examines the representation of more complex data types such as integer, floating-point representation of characters. Further topics covering the basics of C/C++ common to many programming languages as a bright and popular representative of the family of imperative languages, which allows you to create an effective "native" program code, the fundamental basics of algorithmization and basic algorithms, varieties of algorithms, software implementation of working with data in C/C++, etc.
When composing tasks, it is necessary to achieve such an effect that the student understands the meaning of the next step, understands why this step is necessary for the entire project, but feels a lack of skill, which will prompt him to discuss solutions with the teacher, perhaps offer his own, and, eventually, solve the problem with new knowledge. Example subjects such jobs in the order of learning material is determined by the following sequence: to present information of interest from each source in an understandable for the microcontroller digital form, to determine the form of the control signal for each of the managed devices, to make the scheme of the algorithm of formation of a control signal to the required format based on the selected representation of the input signals, etc.
As a result of learning, the student must learn the material that he was able not only to perform the task, and to justify the selection of the hardware components of the system, the choice of the number and type of variables to offer some solutions to algorithmic problems and arguments to choose the one to offer ways of development of the project. This approach allows you to effectively consolidate the material, maintain a lively and sincere interest on the part of participants in the educational process.

Results of practice-oriented learning
The result of practice-based learning and implementation of the basic stage units of the project "Digital engineering school" is the involvement of students in international competitions of professional skills in the following competencies WorldSkills Russia Juniors: software solutions for business, machine learning, and big data, the development of computer games and multimedia applications network and system administration, industrial robotics, mobile robotics.
The educational concept of "Digital engineering school" was tested and successfully implemented as part of additional engineering education for pre-specialized and specialized engineering classes in scientific and engineering circles "Software business systems", "Fundamentals of digital electronics" and "Internet of Things" in one of the secondary schools in Moscow [13].
During the classes, several teams were formed, which took part in the development of their part of the overall project of a large scale, prepared speeches, and presentations for participation in scientific and technical forums and conferences, such as the International scientific and practical conference of schoolchildren and students in "Energy of the future in your hands!" ("NRU MPEI"), the International youth industrial forum "Engineers of the Future" ("Union of machine builders of Russia"), Days of science at NUST MISIS and others. The merits of the school's teams in the framework of thematic sections were awarded diplomas and prizes for 1st place and places in the first three winners of these scientific and technical events.
The approach offered by the Digital engineering school helps to reach the project development stage as soon as possible for participation in conferences and forums, which, in turn, gives an important and useful experience of public speaking and communication with colleagues, feeds the team of young engineers with new ideas, and also, which is important for purposeful students planning to study at technical Universities, allows them to gain additional points and other bonuses upon admission.
Do not forget that the task of "maximum" is to teach that knowledge and skills that will remain relevant and will be useful not only for admission, but also in the process of further study at the university and, as a "minimum", at the initial stage of an engineering career. This specificity should be "red thread" through the entire course of additional education.
On the way to learning in the format of additional education, it is proposed to develop the concept of "continuous knowledge" as knowledge with long-term relevance. In particular, in the present information technology should combine the focus sessions on the practice of the result for schools and students but give priority to learning the basics of complex engineering objects, rather than the nuances and subtleties more simple.
Teaching the basics of the theory of microprocessor technology, the basics of programming common in the professional environment high-level languages C/C++, mathematical foundations of representation, transfer, and processing of information is an important part of the whole, able to provide a strong knowledge foundation for a future specialist in the field of microelectronics, programming, automation, robotics process control, machine learning, and will also help in the development of means of computer data analysis for statisticians, economists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, and representatives of other fields of fundamental and applied science and some other popular professions.

Involvement of teachers and exchange of experience
To form an interested professional-pedagogical community and exchange experience on various aspects, the IoT Lab Educational Bureau conducted a survey, which suggested that teachers should choose new technologies that children need to master as part of mandatory or additional educational programs, taking into account the challenges of the digital economy (figure 4) [14].
Among the most popular, we can highlight the following: robotics; engineering and graphic design; additive technologies; artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as the Internet of Things, which involves knowledge and proficiency in high-level languages and information and communication technologies.
Based on the results of the processed and analyzed survey data, it is planned to hold a regular scientific and practical school-seminar, where the following areas for reports and scientific discussions are identified: • "Digital engineering school": learning modern hardware and information and communication technologies. • "Digital engineering school": practice-oriented engineering activities of students.
• "Digital production": training of future specialists for Industry 4.0.
• Information technologies in education: methods and innovations.
• Inclusive and other types of education in the era of the "Digital economy".
The target audience is heads of educational institutions and their deputies, researchers, teachers, teachers of additional education, Tutors, researchers, specialists in the field of telecommunications, information systems, and technologies.
The scientific and practical school-seminar has the following goals: • Present approaches to "digitalization" of both the infrastructure and the educational process of educational institutions based on the concept and platform "Digital engineering school". • Exchange experience in the issues of "digitalization" of educational institutions, the construction and operation of unified applied information systems for the educational process, and the active involvement of students in practice-oriented learning, including in the field of modern information and communication and engineering technologies. • Analyze the dynamics of the market development of services and software and hardware solutions used for the comprehensive "digitalization" of educational institutions and practiceoriented training. • Expand the network of contacts in the field of scientific research, collect detailed data on the implemented and promising science-intensive innovative scientific, pedagogical, and information technology projects "Digital engineering school". • Identify promising scientific, pedagogical, industrial areas, and human resources for the effective implementation of the concept and platform "Digital engineering school" throughout the country. The main objectives of the scientific and practical school-seminar are: • Promotion of information on the scientific, educational and technological partnership "School-University-Enterprise" for the effective implementation of the concept and platform "Digital engineering school" within the framework of the state direction "Digital economy". • Familiarizing the professional teaching community with the prospects of digitalization of educational institutions (the Digital engineering school project), as well as the educational practice-oriented process in General. • Development of innovative scientific and educational direction "Digital engineering school" -"Digital production" -"Digital economy" using fundamental and applied foundations of the scientific direction "Informatics".
The expected result of the scientific and practical school-seminar is, first of all, the readiness of the participants of the discussion to continue permanently effective, mutually beneficial cooperation and work in the areas of scientific and practical school-seminar, the formation of ways to develop the scientific and educational direction "Digital engineering school" [8,9].
Informative and innovative reports of participants of the scientific and practical school-seminar are published on the pages of a peer-reviewed scientific and practical journal indexed in the Russian Science Citation Index (RISC).

Conclusion
The combination of high-tech engineering tasks, industrial software development methods, and modern research methods allowed to form a motivated interest of project participants in its results, stimulate their scientific and engineering activities, and achieve fast and high-quality results of applied significance. It is obvious that the results of the project activities will form the basis for further engineering developments, and will be considered as areas of scientific research conducted within the framework of multilevel training of high-class specialists.
The experience of solving scientific and practical problems has shown high efficiency of the educational process, built based on innovative project activities of students. The combination of engineering, scientific and business directions as the basis for building the foundation for the growth of their competencies, working on a project that has real practical value, stimulated the manifestation of their abilities in scientific and technical creativity, research, and modeling in solving complex engineering problems using modern software and electronic devices. Scientific guidance with clear stepby-step implementation control allowed us to identify the opportunities and potential of project participants with a relatively deep dive into the subject and scientific field.
The scientific-educational project "Digital engineering school" will provide development of additional education, project and research activities of students, will help improve the competitive performance of students, will form mid-pregnancy competence in students, and ensure a consistent transformation of the educational environment in the digital space efforts and with the direct participation of students of secondary schools.