ORGANIZATION OF CONTACT WORK OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AT A TECHNICAL HIGHER SCHOOL THROUGH THE MOODLE SYSTEM

ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ КОНТАКТНОЙ РАБОТЫ СТУДЕНТОВ И ПРЕПОДАВАТЕЛЕЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИХ ВУЗОВ ПОСРЕДСТВАМ СИСТЕМЫ MOODLE

Научная статья

Батунова И.В.^1, *, Лобынева Е.И.², Николаева А.Ю.³

¹ ORCID: 0000-0002-1825-0097,

 ² ORCID: 0000-0002-4053-175Х,

³ ORCID: 0000-0003-2060-6344,

^{1, 2, 3} Сибирский федеральный университет, Красноярск, Россия

* Корреспондирующий автор (familiya_irina[at]mail.ru)

Аннотация

Изменения, которые происходят в высшем образовании в настоящее время, и необходимость будущего обучения указывают на изменение традиционной образовательной концепции. Поскольку одним из главных атрибутов современного образования является динамизм, необходимо быстро реагировать на изменения. В настоящее время электронное обучение приобретает все большую популярность, доступ к которому можно получить с помощью компьютера, ноутбука и мобильного телефона, которые мы используем в повседневной жизни. В данной статье раскрываются все преимущества и недостатки контактной работы учащихся и преподавателей технического вуза посредствам системы Moodle на платформе Сибирского федерального университета. Авторы предлагают разнообразный подход к составлению баланса учебного времени, обеспечивающий оптимальное соотношение объема контакта и самостоятельной работы студентов. В статье рассматриваются и намечаются пути решения некоторых задач организации контактной работы студентов и преподавателей в техническом вузе.

Ключевые слова: мобильное обучение, образовательные технологии, обучение английскому языку, персональные электронные устройства, знание английского языка, Moodle, контактная работа.

ORGANIZATION OF CONTACT WORK OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AT A TECHNICAL HIGHER SCHOOL THROUGH THE MOODLE SYSTEM

Research article

Batunova I.V.^1, *, Lobyneva E.I.², Nikolaeva A.Yu.³

¹ ORCID: 0000-0002-1825-0097,

 ² ORCID: 0000-0002-4053-175Х,

³ ORCID: 0000-0003-2060-6344,

^{1, 2, 3} Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

* Corresponding author (familiya_irina[at]mail.ru)

Abstract

The changes that are taking place in higher education nowadays and the necessity of the future learning indicate a change in the traditional educational concept. Since one of the main attributes of modern education is dynamism, the need to cope with a high rate of change. Nowadays, e-learning is gaining the most popularity, access to which can be done using both a computer, laptop, and a mobile phone, which we use in our everyday life. This article reveals all the advantages and disadvantages of the contact work of graduate students and teachers in a technical university through the Moodle system on the Siberian Federal University platform. The authors propose a varied approach to drawing up a balance of study time, providing an optimal ratio of the volume of contact and independent work of graduate students. The article discusses and outlines ways for solving some problems of organizing the contact work of students and teachers in a technical university.

Keywords: mobile learning, educational technology, English language teaching, personal electronic devices, English proficiency, Moodle, contact work.

Introduction

A thorough analysis of the modern approach to teaching a foreign language revealed the need for the use of such models of teaching as: e-portfolio technology, BYOD technology, electronic-module learning and others. E-learning provides such a way of organizing foreign-language training for full-time graduate students, which allows the most efficient use of temporary resources of a foreign-language learning due to the rational structuring of the content of training in the e-learning format, implemented both in classroom and in extracurricular time using information technologies. E-learning involves learning in the electronic sheath using e-learning courses built on the basis of modules, i.e. such structurally-substantive units of instruction of foreign-language learning, characterized as an independent training program, individualized by the content, methods and level of independence of each student [2]. The essence and advantage of the electronic course consists primarily in the fact that it allows each student to independently move along the assigned educational path. Each lesson in the online course contains a complete theoretical basis on the topic, exercises aimed at stimulating speech is a game situation, teamwork. Tasks are creative and designed to effectively develop speaking skills, as well as analytical and imaginative thinking. To activate contact work, the course contains creative tasks for working on the Internet. All exercises and tasks are aimed at consolidating the knowledge gained and stimulate interest in the subject. Each module includes not only informational and methodological sections, but lectures using multimedia applications, interactive materials and assignments, hyperlinks to Internet resources, but also a gradebook that allows you to monitor assignments, as well as adjust and reflect the level of learning material each module of the course [9].

It should be noted that online learning contributes to the systematization of student achievement of their goals in educational activities, allowing to trace the process of mastering the subject; the opportunity to organize the educational process taking into account the individual approach in group training. Online course: creates a personal learning environment for each participant in the educational process; increases the student’s involvement in the educational process, as the student is responsible for the results of his studies; increases motivation for learning; increases the level of assimilation and storage of information; increases the intensity of the educational process.

Methods

Whereas, the teacher can always keep track of students' preferences (student orientation). We should not forget about the highly organized contact work of students - the constant involvement of students in the e-course, since the course is divided into weekly planning (access to tasks only at certain times, but can be prolonged at the discretion of the teacher). One of the main advantages of introducing online training is the optimization of the teacher’s work when introducing a mixed model of teaching in the educational process, as well as partial automation of the work checking the performed tasks by the computer [3]. The e-course involves high interactivity, which demonstrates the design and research nature of tasks, discussions in forums, peer review and peer review - providing feedback and work on bugs. Transparency and controllability of the learning process is realized through parameters that are fixed by the system and are available for constant monitoring by the teacher. Providing instant feedback to assess the quality of all components of the educational process [4]. The authors note that the content of the competency-based model of higher education is based on future professional activities that are not conceivable without the skills and abilities to work with the foreign scientific literature. While planning and predicting the results of the work of all participants in the educational process, don’t forget that foreign-language training is aimed, first of all, at the formation of the following student competencies:

- to analyze, synthesize and critically summarize information; correctly conduct a training dialogue

- to independently continue to study the foreign language; own the basic strategies for organizing your own independent educational and cognitive activities; be able to ask a question; master the techniques of completing project tasks in a foreign language; own Internet technologies to select the optimal mode of obtaining information.

The online course contributes to the development of the following competencies of the teacher:

- development of software and methodological and scientific and methodological support of supervised educational online courses

- apply the concept of blended learning in the design of an online course

- design an online course taking into account the needs of the educational process, students and the characteristics of the subject area.

The changing legislative framework necessitates the development of new teaching methods and technologies. Today, the most relevant area is the organization of educational activities, including the use of e-learning and additional educational technologies, in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education (i.e. the implementation of educational programs in the form of contact work), which can be fully realized through an online course. One of the most important advantages of organizing the educational process through the e-course is the reduction in the classroom load to 30% i.e. transfer of practical exercises to the e-environment. In turn, we emphasize the organization of students' independent work and their interaction in the e-environment under the clear guidance of a teacher. New elements are introduced into the educational process, for example, lectures can be presented in an online format; seminars with discussion of complex topics, practicing practical skills; the training material is presented as a high-tech kit of an electronic learning resource, which is placed in an electronic educational information environment. It means the constant access to materials, since students are presented with all the learning outcomes for the modules, sets of tasks and requirements for their implementation. In turn, the teacher can see the picture of the study group learning online, reports on the work performed, the demand for e-course materials [11].

It is teaching a foreign language that becomes obvious that the e-course combines the best aspects of electronic and traditional learning. The online course is a continuation of the practical lesson. In our e-course, training goes in parallel: each unit section passed in a practical lesson corresponds to a block of tasks in the network [7]. That is, the e-course does not replace, but supplements the basic, practical classes. In the course are laid out reference materials that are not included in the main material, test assignments for fixing lexically and grammar with automated verification, and not a textbook; work with video material in individual work mode will contribute to a detailed study. Moreover, the online course contains such types of work that are not available in practical classes, namely asynchronous forums, chats, video and audio conferences, wikis, polls, etc. Learning in a virtual environment contributes to the development of student learning autonomy. They become active by participating in discussions. It should be noted that e-learning is not just the use of ICT in the independent work of students, it is a single, holistic process, which assumes that part of the cognitive activity of students is carried out in practical classes under the guidance of a teacher, and part of the activity with a predominance of independent types of work [8].

Results

Speaking about the system of higher professional education, more and more often we need to introduce online learning through electronics. One of the common platforms that allow you to work remotely and online is the Moodle system, which is actively used on the basis of the Siberian Federal University.  Using this platform or web application, a computerized learning management system is created. The Moodle system itself is a modular learning environment. It relates primarily to free software, which facilitates the implementation of this program, since it is distributed in the public domain. On the basis of this platform, the teacher can place interactive teaching materials, including individual files, a lecture, audio and video materials, a book (a resource from many pages, divided into chapters), a glossary, assignment, a database and much more. It should be noted that the Moodle system also allows the teacher to monitor the progress of the course by students, using for this purpose such general course settings as “Grade Journal” and “User Report”. For current, intermediate and final control, the Moodle system offers to use the element of the “Test” course, which can be configured in a certain way, indicating the number of attempts to complete and the time limit. Types of test questions range from true / false judgments and calculated answers to multiple choice and essay questions. All tests except the essay are checked automatically according to the teacher’s settings. Thus, the mobile training implemented on the basis of the Moodle mobile system meets two important criteria: firstly, it helps to strengthen knowledge, skills, and practice vocabulary necessary for the undergraduate during the training process, and during his / her scientific activity; secondly, it acts as a support (scaffolding) for those undergraduates who are forced to miss class classes [3].

The course is created for students of the 1st year of full-time master’s studies in the field of study 04.04.01 Chemistry, specialties 04.04.01.08 Oil refining and petro chemistry studying foreign language discipline. The main goal of this course is to provide additional independent distance learning of a foreign language to increase the level of foreign language proficiency and students to master the necessary and sufficient level of intercultural communicative competence that is necessary for a successful future specialist in continuing education. The online electronic course consists of 2 Modules:

1 OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY module, which contains 12 sections (Unit)

2 PETROLEUM module, which also contains 12 sections (Unit)

In each section, the student works out tasks that are evaluated either automatically or by the teacher. The proposed online course project is aimed primarily at organizing the educational process according to a mixed model, that is, a combination of classroom and electronic online activities of graduate students.

Discussion

After analyzing the literature of foreign and domestic, we revealed a variety of modern approaches to teaching a foreign language. The most developed online learning is considered foreign, there are a huge number of researchers involved in this problem, among them: Attevel, S. Geddes, T. Cochrane, J. Traxler, M. Sharples, H. Ogata, J. Herington et al.  Nevertheless, it should be noted that in the Russian system, online education is not sufficiently developed, which led to the development of our area, as noted above, and the need to introduce e-learning, its positive and negative impact on self-study in foreign languages was analyzed language of high school students. Despite the popularization and the increasing need for the introduction of online courses in modern education, Russian teachers are very wary of this area, not paying enough attention to it.

Nevertheless, delving into this problem, we consider it necessary to introduce an online course in the education system. We offer to work on an online course in the Moodle system, which has successfully established itself and has actively begun to be implemented in pilot universities of the country.

We plan to create all types of activities in the e-course on the Moodle platform and divide it into the following forms of organization of the educational process:

- consultations (individual, group, using such resources as: e-mail, forum, chat)

- TV and media lecture (through audio and video, slide presentation, hyperlinks)

- group and individual projects (research, creative, information)

- individual tasks (in the format of an essay)

- control (on-line testing, offset)

- games (educational, role-playing)

- situational analysis (case-study)

In the framework of online training, we propose to divide our course into tasks that can effectively prepare a future specialist for professional communication in a foreign language, and also help to form the basic competencies of students:

1. Reading task - this type of task includes a scientific text on the topic of the section, followed by checking its understanding by means of questions in English or tasks of the "true" - "false" type. Students will be asked to read the text and complete assignments. If the answer is not correct, the student will return to reading the text. If he give the correct answer, his result will be recorded and displayed in the gradebook for further analysis by the teacher.
2. Grammar task - in this part of the task test tasks are presented. The work is carried out to improve grammatical skills and consolidate grammatical material studied in practical classes in a foreign language. Results are evaluated automatically, then displayed in the log.
3. Writing assignment is a written part of an e-course, which can include either a written translation of a text with a dictionary (the student must possess the skills of this work, as described in the work program of the discipline), or the ability to conduct business correspondence with foreign colleagues. For assessment, the student sends his work to the teacher in an attached file in the e-course. This type of work can be assessed as set off or not set off. It can also be evaluated or commented on by the students themselves, which will allow them to work on the errors and analyze their answers and the answers of their classmates.
4. Creative task - the task is responsible for the creative part, it may be optional, this part of the creative task is considered completed if the student has uploaded a Google presentation with a detailed description of his work. Such work can be rated as "set off" or "not set off."

Conclusion

Contact work with the course can be carried out at home, the teacher and student communicate online. In the introduction to the course are presented by different documents such as: the program, guidelines for the student’s work and many others). When studying the course, the sequence of studying the elements is important, because some elements, for example practical tasks, depend on each other, that is, it is impossible to proceed to the next task until the current one is completed and a mark for it is set. In the course it is possible to independently study theoretical material using lecture material posted in the course.

The work on creating and implementing an online course will consist of the following steps:

1. Request for an e-course based on the Moodle platform
2. Designing an e-course on a mixed model
3. Development of an e-course for students of the 1st year of a full-time master's degree program (2 semesters 2020-2021 academic year)
4. Development and placement in the electronic course of educational and methodological support of the discipline
5. Development of an online learning environment for an online course
6. Design and completion of the main components and tasks of the electronic course
7. Creation of test and final tasks for each section, module
8. Creation of a forum, chat for solving basic issues on the organization of online training and work in modules, as well as constant communication of students with the teacher
9. The introduction of an electronic course in the educational process
10. Conducting entrance testing for graduate students
11. Work in the electronic course
12. Completing assignments, online discussions in forums, cross-checking and reviewing assignments by students and teachers
13. Intermediate monitoring and summarizing the work of students in the electronic environment
14. Summing up the work and organization of work of the electronic course

We consider working in an online course a huge advantage in the framework of educational activities. In addition, the advantages of this training are obvious to all sides of the educational process: university leadership, teachers and students. To popularize online learning, we plan to publish scientific articles in international abstract databases Scopus and Web of science. Participation in international conferences to exchange experience with foreign colleagues in the framework of our topic.

The main indicators of success to be an increase in the level of education of graduate students, which can be traced through an electronic journal. The introduction of blended learning will help the student evaluate and analyze their achievements; optimize your work, build a personal learning path; constant contact work and constant support from the teacher who is able to simulate and adjust the approach and teaching methods of IJ; individualization of training - tasks are performed in the e-course independently, by each student. Moreover, the student performs the task at a convenient time for himself and, devoting the necessary time to a topic, thereby, such work increases the motivation and success of mastering the materials contained in the e-course. Do not forget about testing new approaches and fixing the educational process in an electronic journal. And we all know that one of the indicators of success is the result, in our case, an objective assessment of knowledge, which will consist of the sum of the assessments: the teacher, self-esteem, peer review and assessment of the main test tasks, which is set automatically.

Конфликт интересов Не указан.

Conflict of Interest None declared.

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