Problems Of Distance Learning In Higher Education

Abstract

Currently, all universities are actively using digital technologies in educational activities. Such requirements are imposed on the system of higher education by the state policy of the Russian Federation. Thus, competitive universities must meet a number of criteria, where informationization and digitalization of education become the determining factors in the development of the university. Digital education is actively involved in the educational environment. And its use in this situation is justified. In our age of rapidly developing technologies, it is difficult now to imagine education in the traditional form in which Ya.A. Kamensky, at one time. It is difficult to imagine education today without the use of information and communication technologies, distance learning, etc. And in the light of recent events (COVID - 19), it was digital resources that turned out to be the only technology possible in a situation of population distancing. In addition, these resources have established themselves as the most effective and efficient in building educational activities at all levels of education, including higher education. The article is devoted to the problem of using digital resources (distance education) in the educational process of the university. The publication analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using distance learning in higher education. It is shown that, although this form of education is very actively used in the modern educational space of the university, however, it is still not the only and optimal means for increasing the effectiveness of the educational process in the higher education system.

Keywords: Distance learning, informatization of education, digital education, information and communication technologies

Introduction

Russia's entry into the Bologna process for our traditional education system ended with a qualitative transformation of the entire education system, resulting from the modernization of this process. The system of training a specialist has become multi-level, where the bachelor's level is only the initial stage of higher education, the master's level, gives the student the opportunity to get a high-quality higher education. In connection with the transition to a multi-level system of training highly qualified personnel, therefore, the requirements for the organization of educational activities, and the conditions for training, etc., change substantively.

In our age of rapidly changing technologies, the state imposes a number of requirements on education that would ensure the training of a specialist who meets modern standards and the requirements of society. Among such requirements, the inclusion of digital technologies in the educational process comes to the fore, where digitalization is becoming one of the promising directions in the field of public policy. The inclusion of digital resources in the process of training highly qualified specialists, thus, becomes an integral condition for the development of the Russian education system.

Digital education is a combination of different learning tools and technologies used in the educational process. Information and communication technologies, distance learning, etc.are among the common forms used in education.

Problem Statement

The problem of the research is the definition of distance learning as one of the demanded and effective forms of information and communication technologies used in higher education in the preparation of highly qualified personnel.

Research Questions

As a result of the analysis of scientific literature, determine the current state of the use of distance learning in the higher education system.

To study the importance of introducing distance learning into the educational process of the university.

Application of distance learning in the system of university training of a new format specialist.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this article is to analyse the existing literature on theory and practice on the use of distance learning in higher education.

Research Methods

This article uses theoretical research methods: analysis of scientific literature on the research problem; systematization and generalization of the results obtained, described in the form of conclusions and inferences.

Findings

At the moment, distance learning is becoming one of the most popular and promising educational technologies implemented in the higher education system of the Russian Federation (Akimova & Shcherbin, 2018). At the moment, it is already possible to say with confidence that most of the universities in our Russian Federation, as well as in the Near and Far Abroad, use distance learning when organizing the educational process at a university. This trend is explained by the requirements of the state policy in the field of education, the order of the society for the training of highly qualified personnel.

In addition, for many students, this form of education becomes the most acceptable when obtaining education, in particular, in obtaining a second higher education, passing coursework, etc., since it makes it possible to receive a quality education necessary for a successful professional without interrupting study or production. activities (Atanasyan, 2007). Distance learning in this situation is considered as a way of obtaining knowledge and skills by a student in the process of including him in the electronic educational environment. At the same time, the content of education remains unchanged. In this situation, distance education makes it possible to qualitatively and in the shortest possible time solve the issue of training a specialist in a new format: competent, mobile, in demand on the labour market. After all, it is precisely such a specialist that the state expects to receive from the modern education system.

For a university, training personnel who are "in step with the times" will not be difficult, since modern young men very quickly and competently navigate the information space of the Internet (Ivanova & Shcheblyakov, 2017). It is not difficult for them to search for information that is relevant to them at the moment, they are characterized by multitasking in the performance of activities, which can significantly reduce the time spent in the learning process. They are socially open and ready for contacts, even with strangers. However, with such a large arsenal of capabilities, modern students are distinguished by “clip thinking”, which, on the one hand, allows not to overload the brain when perceiving a large flow of information and information overloads emanating from the use of electronic resources, and on the other hand, information is perceived only fragmentarily, which indicates the absence its holistic perception. The selected features allow us to conclude that this type of training fully corresponds to the psychophysical characteristics of students, and therefore creates the preconditions for their successful training in the context of the digitalization of society.

For successful training in this case, the university requires a well-equipped material and technical base, which allows, in the conditions of rapidly developing educational technologies, to create conditions for students to master their knowledge, equip them with professional skills and abilities (Kuznetsova, 2015).

According to the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard, universities have a sufficiently equipped material and technical base, capable of building the educational process in a qualitatively new way, taking into account modern standards (Reutova, 2012). The experience in this area of ​​knowledge has shown that at present, distance learning in the university system is implemented using all available information and communication resources and services. So, students in this form of education have the opportunity to study on educational platforms of online courses. For example, training with students takes place in the LMS Moodle electronic distance learning system. In the educational process, university rooms are used: Zoom, Skype, Webinar, Microsoft Teams, etc. In addition, among information services, the most popular are e-mail, all kinds of online chats, web conferences, etc. As a rule, the types of distance learning are determined by the characteristics and the content of the pedagogical process, as well as the available information and telecommunication means at the disposal of the university.

Students have the opportunity to access a variety of information bases and services (Rubenko, 2017). The use of digital resources in education allows them to gain knowledge, while using all available types of Internet technologies, as well as mobile devices, which allows them to expand the boundaries of perceived information and make them limitless.

In the situation of distance learning, the student acquires more independence, since with this form of training, the student is accustomed to independent search and selection of information. Thus, students have the opportunity to use the electronic library systems of universities, various educational resources, etc. for educational purposes. The high professionalism of future specialists is thus achieved through the organization of high-quality effective independent work of the student. Video lectures, webinars, etc., available in the arsenal of teachers, complement the possibilities of distance learning.

The conditions that must be met in order to implement distance learning in universities are a good material and technical base and an increase in the digital literacy of teachers. Since, in the situation of digital education, teachers are required not only to develop online courses, but, above all, the ability to work with these online courses and skilfully use information and communication resources in the educational process of the university.

The undoubted advantage of using distance learning in the educational process of a university is its availability and relevance. This form of training is acceptable both for a working citizen who has the opportunity to receive the knowledge he needs, improve his qualifications without interrupting his work, and for a person who has psychophysical problems and defects. For persons with special educational health capabilities, this form of education allows them to be on an equal footing, erasing all boundaries, and simultaneously with all participants in the educational process to be in a single digital environment. Thus, the flexibility of technology allows, taking into account individual characteristics, to build an educational trajectory for each specific student, taking into account his capabilities, resources, and in some cases, and deficiencies.

Conclusion

Thus, distance learning is relevant and in demand in the situation of training highly qualified personnel. Among the advantages of using this form of education in the educational process of the university, the following should be highlighted:

• the possibility of obtaining higher education on the job;
• reduction of financial costs, since there is no need to attend full-time training (significant territorial remoteness, residence, etc.);
• the ability to dose and structure educational knowledge at a convenient pace and flexible mode;
• familiarizing students with independent search and selection of information;
• an individual trajectory of training, allows you to take into account the individual psychophysical characteristics of students;
• Distance learning allows you to increase the target audience (to cover a larger number of students).

However, at the same time, the introduction of distance learning into a higher school has a number of problems:

• Lack of personal contact between a student and a teacher can create a lack of information or its incorrect interpretation. The lack of live communication deprives all subjects of the educational process of unhindered receipt of feedback, affects the socialization of the individual;
• a student's lack of motivation for learning can affect the quality of the material being assimilated, which in turn can lead to a variant of “non-independent” learning;
• not every profession can be learned remotely;
• distance learning for a university is associated with material costs. The university must have a good material and technical base, where technical equipment, software and hardware, etc. are presented. Lack of general availability of Internet resources and a weak material and technical base hinder the massive distribution of these resources in the field of education.

Distance learning seems to be possible in modern conditions, but it requires serious software and methodological support. According to the students, distance education can be used in educational activities as an independent form of education, or combined with classroom lessons as a practice of independent work with electronic courses.

References

• Akimova, O. B., & Shcherbin, M. D. (2018). Digital transformation of education: timeliness of educational and cognitive independence of students. Innovative projects and programs in education, 1, 27-34.

• Atanasyan, S. L. (2007). Theoretical foundations of the formation of the information educational environment of a pedagogical university. Information educational environment. Theory and practice. Bulletin of the Center for Informatics and Information Technologies in Education, 2, 5-14.

• Ivanova, N. G., & Shcheblyakov, E. S. (2017). Implementation of the competence-based approach in the educational process of the university. Contemporary studies of social problems, 8(2-2), 104-108. http://ej.soc-joumal.ru

• Kuznetsova, O. V. (2015). Distance learning: pros and cons. International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research, 8-2, 362-364.

• Reutova, E. A. (2012). The use of active and interactive teaching methods in the educational process of the university. Publishing house, NSAU.

• Rubenko, A. N. (2017). Information and educational environment as an object of pedagogical research. Bulletin of the Taganrog State Pedagogical, 1, 106-110.