Search

The paper considers the problem of changing the traditional model of higher education into the up-dated model of blended learning. The paper focuses on the problem of changing the teaching/learning strategies as the necessary condition for creating and improving the modified educational environment at Universities taking into consideration the advanced achievements in science and social development. The article dwells on the existing possibilities for a student-centered teaching/learning process where the student creates his individual educational track. The authors have considered the reimagining means of teaching/learning strategies for teaching staff by aiming at effective blended learning. Having analyzed the results of pilot studies, shortcomings of conventional teaching and statistical information on graduate employment, the authors have stated the fact that neither conventional teaching nor the so-called innovative educational technologies could close the gap between educational aims and results. The acute shortage of up-dated theoretical psychological and peda gogical knowledge as well as the lack of due consideration for reimagining of teaching/learning strategies have been suggested as the deep-rooted causes of this gap. The paper suggests the definition of teaching/learning strategies and the developed model of their application for University educational environment. The authors have shown the existed blended learning models and the experience of their implementation in the Russian Federation and abroad. The role of educational moderator at creating a new type of teaching/learning interaction by using a Tutorial FL Navigator has been justified and illustrated by FLT at University. The student turns into a member of academic community while entering the environment of Content and Language Integrated Learning Project (CLILP). The potential prospects of blended learning model have been analyzed using the project method in teaching foreign languages (Content and Language Integrated Learning Project). The conclusion of blended learning effectiveness for transformation the general foreign language teaching into expanded professional education has been drawn on the base of obtained empiric and statistical evidence.

The paper presents a review of literature and other sources of information concerning the fourth industrial revolution and the development of the digital economy. The tasks of improving the education system including higher education and engineering training are actualized. The author analyzes the development of online technologies in education, as well as blended learning, combining the advantages of traditional and online education. The paper dwells on the peculiarities of training engineers and the best practices of applying blended learning in engineering education, shows the need to optimize blended learning by maximizing the benefits of traditional and online education. A technique for using the CDIO approach, further developed for engineering education of the top levels, is proposed for the optimal blended learning design of the Bachelor, Master and PhD programs. The author adduces the concrete examples, which show the possibility of digital transformation of engineering programs with the purpose of their actualization and improving the quality of graduates’ training for complex, innovative and research engineering activity.

The concept of “blended learning” has been widely discussed in Russian higher education. However, there are different interpretations of the concept and its status is not completely clear in the Russian regulatory environment. Although the effectiveness of this mode of education has been repeatedly recognised, systematic measures for the introduction of blended learning by universities are not being implemented. One of the factors for the success of such an implementation is the high-quality instructional design for blended learning. Difficulties in instructional design use can lead to the abandonment of blended learning or the adoption of less efficient practices. This paper explores the challenges faced by representatives of Russian universities involved in designing and teaching courses in a blended mode during the COVID-19 pandemic. The method used in the study is an online survey which was conducted in 2020-2021. The respondents were participants in the professional development program “School of Instructional Design for Blended Learning”. The results of the study showed that the respondents’ professional deficits in the design of blended courses were associated with the development of new ways of designing and teaching, growth of the course quality and student-centeredness, and more efficient allocation of time resources and use of online tools. The development stage, which involves the creation or updating of digital learning resources, turned out to be the most challenging for designing. Most respondents used LMS but were not satisfied with the quality of its application; also, the majority faced the problem of retaining student engagement in blended learning. The respondents would like to improve their formative and summative assessment practices and strengthen the course quality assessment practices. Commitment to overcome the identified difficulties can contribute to the creation of more effective practice-oriented professional development programs on teaching the blended learning design for educators, instructional designers and academic advisors in Russian higher education, leading to an increase in its quality.

The paper considers the global e-learning market trends and discusses the applicability of online courses which are considered to be the best technologies to face the modern lifestyle. The number of students choosing online courses has been rising, which leads to the future increase of online courses offered by universities. The paper analyses as well factors affecting global education market development. The article deals with the issues of the usage of learning management systems (LMS) as a basis to implement online courses.

Learning Management System (LMS) analytics data is proposed to be used in developing algorithms for evaluating students’ self-studies. Development of such algorithms is relevant considering annual growth of disciplines that apply blended learning. In blended learning model selfstudy can be done online in LMS which makes it possible to analyze patterns how students interact with learning materials and perform exercises of various complexity. Different criteria and indicators are aggregated into numeric metrics that following designed methodology evaluates self-study performance of each student. Designed methodology uses algorithms that evaluate self-study results by using empirical LMS analytics data. Developed algorithms allow us on one hand to interpret empirical data for self-studies evaluation, and on the other hand to correct and improve students’ learning path. This paper presents results of using developed methodology deployed in LMS BlackBoard on the example of Information Technology blended learning course in Far Eastern Federal University.

The article analyzes the experience of introducing blended learning at the university on the example of a discipline “The Russian Language and the Culture of Speech”. The prospects of a mixed form of training as the most important factor of the transition from passive learning to active are substantiated. The author dwells on the principles of the “flipped classroom” technology based on the rearrangement of the key components of the educational process with the active use of electronic educational environment. The paper shows the advantages of using the “flipped classroom” technology from the point of view of optimizing the audience load, students’ motivation, orientation at the effective formation of their general cultural competences. The author presents the new methodical approaches to designing the discipline “The Russian Language and the Culture of Speech” aimed at improving the quality of teaching.

The article analyzes class attendance in different forms of education: traditional and blended ones. Literature review shows that attendance is linked with students' academic performance. The author gained the data on attendance of seminars by the 4th-year students in the biological department ofMSU and applied mathematical methods to process the data. The attendance of seminars by students has been analyzed in two educational forms: traditional learning (face-to-face classroom seminars were accompanied by autonomous paper work) and blended learning (face-to-face classroom seminars were accompanied by autonomous work on a specially created educational wiki website). The results show that blended learning, more than traditional learning contributes to the formation of a high level of attendance.

The paper explores emerging trends of modern society that have created tremendous impacts on higher education, both in worldwide and national scales. Implementing e-learning initiatives as the response of higher education institutions to major challenges isdiscussed. Educational process reforming through the use and development of e-learning technologies at the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University is shown.

The article considers the problem of how university teacher commitment to deliver educational courses in English matches the modern quality requirements of training future specialists. The authors analyze the system of university advanced teacher training programmes focused on developing educational courses in English. The system contains three programmes, which provide a technical university content teacher with a sufficient didactic toolkit to design and deliver non-linguistic educational courses in English. The paper also presents the viewpoint on designing a blended educational course in English for international students. The course focused on problem-based teaching and learning has demonstrated its high efficiency in developing student motivation, their critical thinking skills and total class participation. Thus, advanced training programmes described promote both academic staff didactic competence and the quality of future engineer training.