Internet Information and Academic Literacy in the Digital Age

The paper aims to analyze positive and negative characteristics of Internet information, consider the peculiarities of social and historical change of knowledge, and identify the specifics of the phenomenon of human academic literacy. In the modern information and digital age, the role and importance of information is increasing at a rate that has allowed scientists to describe the situation as the information explosion. The dramatic increase in the volume of information was made possible by the fact that a wide range of users with their personal information materials have gained access to the Internet. The speed of obtaining information has also increased; it is transmitted in real-life mode. These and many other characteristics of modern information flows can undoubtedly be assessed as positive trends, but the negative aspects of information processes are also increasing. The abundance of information gives rise to its excess and the problem of its selection. The availability of information does not guarantee its reliability; there is a lot of false, distorted information in the Internet. Analyzing whether the wide access and abundance of Internet information implies increasing academic literacy, the author concludes that people tend to become much more informed, but the path to academic literacy is becoming longer. Academic literacy is what a person learned in the course of education and what became the basis for his/her daily life and self-awareness. The excess of information creates a problem of qualitative selection, which requires additional time. The abundance of unreliable, fake information requires its careful verification. Public morals are the most important element of academic literacy, but there are virtually no filters in the Internet that block immoral information, cruelty, Internet trolling. As a result, learning by processing Internet information makes the process of creating academic literacy much more challenging and complex. Keywords: information age, information, digital technologies, academic literac

Distance Education in Higher Education: The Perspective of Key Social Actors

This article considers the perspective of the key social actors (students, teachers and university management) regarding distance education development in Russia. In the modern information and digital age, distance education – based on the possibility of disseminating knowledge through modern computer technologies – is being actively introduced into the Russian higher education system. The pace of implementation is increasing in Russia, yet its assessment as a new form of learning and teaching is ambiguous. There are clear advantages to this form when compared with traditional face-to-face classroom instruction including: the accessibility of education to a wide audience; the possibility to earn a degree irrespective of place of residence; variability of learning time selection; relatively low tuition fees. At the same time, however, many believe that the quality of education received by distance students is lower than that received via face-to-face teaching, due to both the lack of student’ readiness and the difficulties related to pedagogical process organization and management. This study considers whether distance higher education will continue to develop in Russia. The answer to this question depends to a large extent on the perspective of the key social actors. The study analyses their attitudes to distance education and make the following conclusions: 1) University management generally accept this form because of its economic advantage and attitudes of the higher education authorities. Students also vote in favour, because it allows them to earn a degree without giving up work, family and home-related commitments. The most negative assessment is given by teachers who conduct classes at a distance and can compare distance learning outcomes with those in the traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Keywords: distance education, quality of education, social actors, students, teachers, university managemen

Effect of Methoxy Substitution on Supramolecular Arrangement of Borondifluorides of 2\u27-Hydroxy Chalcones and their Solid-State NIR Fluorescence

This work describes the borondifluoride complexes of 2\u27-hydroxychalcone derivatives, 2 and 3, differently substituted with methoxy groups. Their optical study in dichloromethane reveals similar UV-vis absorption and fluorescence emission features in the visible spectral region that are close to those of the parent compound 1. While fluorescence quantum yields Φf are very low in solution, they are higher in the solid state, showing that aggregation-induced enhanced emission occurs. Remarkably, the solid-state emission spectra are strongly red-shifted reaching the near infrared (NIR) spectral range. Molecular structures of 2 and 3 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The data show the occurrence of tightly packed arrangements that favor strong π-π overlap between neighboring molecules. Such situation allows the generation of promising NIR emitting materials, such as compound 3 emitting at 784 nm with Φf = 0.07 that stands as one of the best NIR solid-state organic emitters. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Spontaneous exciton dissociation enables spin state interconversion in delayed fluorescence organic semiconductors.

Engineering a low singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST) is necessary for efficient reverse intersystem crossing (rISC) in delayed fluorescence (DF) organic semiconductors but results in a small radiative rate that limits performance in LEDs. Here, we study a model DF material, BF2, that exhibits a strong optical absorption (absorption coefficient = 3.8 × 105 cm-1) and a relatively large ΔEST of 0.2 eV. In isolated BF2 molecules, intramolecular rISC is slow (delayed lifetime = 260 μs), but in aggregated films, BF2 generates intermolecular charge transfer (inter-CT) states on picosecond timescales. In contrast to the microsecond intramolecular rISC that is promoted by spin-orbit interactions in most isolated DF molecules, photoluminescence-detected magnetic resonance shows that these inter-CT states undergo rISC mediated by hyperfine interactions on a ~24 ns timescale and have an average electron-hole separation of ≥1.5 nm. Transfer back to the emissive singlet exciton then enables efficient DF and LED operation. Thus, access to these inter-CT states, which is possible even at low BF2 doping concentrations of 4 wt%, resolves the conflicting requirements of fast radiative emission and low ΔEST in organic DF emitters

The impact of digital technology on the quality of higher education

COVID-19 pandemic intensified the transition to online learning practices. The article aims to analyse how students perceive distance education quality compared to face-to-face education mode. The author argues that the groups of social actors, interested in the promotion of distance education in higher schools, include: university leadership, geographically and physically disadvantaged students. In the period 2015-2020 the group of USUE researchers conducted a series of students’ surveys. Analysing the survey findings, the author states that despite the benefits of distance education, students consider that the quality of distance learning is inferior to the traditional face-to-face education mode. Among the problems faced by students in distance learning, is their inability to select information, assess its reliability, and differentiate significant information from insignificant. It is concluded that it is of great importance to continue research into the impacts of digitalization on the quality of higher education

Urbanization in a historical perspective

Russia is one of the highly urbanized countries, so the question of the prospects for developing urban processes is very relevant. Currently, there are two processes in our country: the growth of large cities, their transformation into agglomerations, and the reduction in the number of residents of small and medium-sized cities. These processes are unfolding in the new conditions of the information and digital era, which is changing the spatial fixation of the functionality of large cities, taking many traditional urban activities online mode. It creates the basis for moving the population from large megacities to the suburbs or small and medium-sized cities. Computer technologies are being actively introduced into all spheres of life. They are radically changing our lives and allow avoiding many problems of a large city, making typical types of urban life virtual. As a result, large cities lose their spatial localization of traditional historical functions (economic, socio-cultural, transport, etc.) and giving small and medium-sized cities a chance to renovate themselves

Housing problem: micro-apartments and everyday life of citizens

Background. Currently, both in our country and abroad, there is a growing trend towards a decrease in the total area of housing, micro-apartments with a size of 9–18 square meters. Researchers believe that this trend will increase in the nearest future. Abroad, especially in densely populated countries, the phenomenon of mini-housing has been widespread for a long time and on a much larger scale. In the information field, stories appear both justifying and condemning the living of people in such apartments. The purpose of the study is to identify the impact of living in a micro-apartment on the everyday life of citizens. Materials and methods. In our country, scientific research on mini-housing is just beginning. As a methodological basis, such conceptual concepts as “microapartment” and “everyday life of citizens” are used. A functional method, an integrated approach, generalization and analysis of both scientific materials and expert opinions reflected in the media are used. Statistical data is used. Results. It has been proven that there is currently a growing trend of acquiring and living in very small apartments. A range of main actors interested in such housing has been identified (developers and investors, lowincome people, students, young people, businessmen who come to a large city on business trips, etc.). The reasons and factors behind the growing popularity of micro-apartments are analyzed. Conclusions. Currently, there is no consensus in assessing the impact of living in a micro-apartment on the everyday life of citizens, polar points of view are expressed. The growing trend of increasing the number of micro-apartments dictates the need to strengthen both the scientific study of the phenomenon of micro-apartments and its impact on everyday life, and the correction of the housing policy pursued by the state and municipal authorities

New paradigms and challenges of social life in the information and digital era

The information-digital era has led to the emergence in our social life of a number of new paradigms - social standards and patterns of behavior, new values and beliefs that are implemented in all spheres of society. The paper aims to analyze the emerging paradigms regarding the changes they introduce in our social lives and threats brought about by these changes. The authors analyze such paradigms as a new attitude to information, the introduction of digital technologies, changes in the qualification level of the workforce, new features of the lifestyle, and a change in spatial behavior. It is concluded that each paradigm introduces behavioral standard modifications to social life and makes social activity easier in terms of physical costs. At the same time, each new paradigm simultaneously generates new challenges for a person: problems of selecting information and assessing its reliability, arising information inequality, underdevelopment of digital culture, a shortage of relevant specialists, and the disappearance of a number of professions. Overall, the authors view these challenges as inevitable consequences of growth that humanity must explore and learn to overcome