Russian perspectives of online learning technologies in higher education: An empirical study of a MOOC

There has been a rapid growth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in the global education market in the last decade. Online learning technologies are becoming increasingly widespread in the non-formal education sector and in higher and supplementary vocational education. The use of MOOCs in Russia to support the delivery of educational programmes at university level opens opportunities in terms of expanding the educational choice for students, the development of virtual academic mobility, reduction in the cost of educational services, and improvement in the accessibility of education. However, the effectiveness of using different online learning technologies at university level, and the consequences of their widespread adoption, has not been sufficiently explored. In this research study, a comparative analysis is made of the effects of different online learning models on student educational outcomes in a university setting. A study was undertaken in which different groups of students at the Ural Federal University, Russia, were encouraged to study technical and humanities disciplines using a framework of blended learning, and online learning with tutoring support. The results of the study were compared with the results of a reference (control) group of students who studied the same disciplines in a traditionally taught model. It was found that both models (blended and online) of MOOC implementation demonstrated greater learning gains, in comparison with the traditional model. For engineering and technical disciplines, there was no statistically significant difference between blended or online learning technologies. For the humanities discipline, where the communicative component of the learning process was significant, the blended learning technology produced better results. Conclusions of this empirical research may be useful for heads of educational organizations and teachers in helping them to make strategic decisions about the modernization of university courses by increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of new educational technologies. The results of this research project will be used for implementing the State Priority Project, ‘The Modern Digital Educational Environment of the Russian Federation’

Perceptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes of First Year Third-Level Students: An Empirical Study of Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Finnish, and Irish Students

The contemporary skillset of undergraduates includes a degree of sophistication in the application of ICT within their daily lives as well as within the higher education environment. The assumption of the student as a digital native, with the ability to cognitively process information in an ICT focused educational environment, is omnipresent in higher education. It has been suggested this assumption does not aid learning and adds an additional burden on the student. This study investigated whether experiences and perceptions, of mathematics and online assessment, are common to students studying in different countries and their respective higher education systems. The purpose of the investigation was to determine what issues influence the attitudes of students in the application of ICT for the online assessment of mathematics in the first year of undergraduate programmes. The investigation was conducted online by means of a quantitative questionnaire, consisting of 16 survey items, using Google Forms to self-selecting students (n=374) across several academic disciplines including engineering, business studies, media, and tourism. The survey was delivered in English to the majority students and translated to Russian for the Russian students to enable each group to reply in their own native language. The questionnaire design utilized a 6-point Likert scale where students were asked to express their experiences and perceptions of mathematics and online assessment in their chosen programme of study. The data was exported to IBM SPSSv24 and regression analyses were conducted to ascertain possible associations and relationships between the two student groups in the case study. The results of the investigation reveal some peculiar features and the respective investigation outcomes of the investigation will be utilized in the design of learner-centered assessments and shared with international partners

DOES AGGLOMERATION PROCESS EXIST IN SMALL PROVINCIAL URBAN CENTERS? EVIDENCES FROM SVERDLOVSK REGION

In this paper we analyze the agglomeration of three small urban centers in Sverdlovsk Region (Russia). We describe agglomeration economies as the process where firm can be divided into those based on internal economies and those based on external economies, and also that each kind of economy can be viewed from the perspectives of scale, scope, and complexity. In our example, agglomeration economies are based on the internal economies. All analyzed towns are different in the level of industrial production, economies of scale and increasing returns. Industrial agglomeration effects are conceptually classified into localization and urbanization economies. We believe that agglomeration is strong only in small towns with the effective industrial production. As methods we used the Cobb-Douglas production function. Results of the research showed that only a town with industrial specialization (Verkhnyaya Salda) is characterized by constant returns to scale and the growth of total production which is mainly determined by increasing of capital. The other two cases of the towns (which are not industrial specialized) do not generate these results. Moreover, the town which not develops industrial production has no any effect of agglomeration. Agglomeration effects can be observed at different levels of aggregation. Large cities provide greater opportunity for economies of scale, availability of quality human capital, cluster effects, innovation processes and knowledge spillover, but under certain conditions smaller towns can also achieve some of the effects of agglomeration

Lifelong learning as a tool for the development of smart cities: technology enhanced learning as an enabler

This paper considers the ubiquity of technology as an enabler for lifelong learning in modern society and the impact this dependence on technology has on the strategic design of learning systems. The role of lifelong learning in modern economies and the diversity of activities associated with lifelong learning requires targeted resourcing and understanding of the meaning of lifelong learning. The dominance of technology enhanced learning in modern education is accepted as a de-facto component in the design of any learning programme. The literature on the technology enhanced learning – smart city nexus explores the technology in depth with a strong focus on learning analytics and big data applications. Evidence of the pedagogical paradigm requirements is not quite so visible and this lack of understanding of the complete model creates tensions in the design of lifelong learning systems. The agency of active learning is considered in the sense of the triune of human, education and economic, systems for the sustainable growth of a knowledge economy. Structured approaches to learning are demonstrated and comparison is drawn with smart city projects in Ireland and the United Kingdom

Introduction of open e-learning system as a factor of regional development

The article analyses the economic and socio-cultural premises for introducing the open e-learning in the universities of the Ural region, as well as the potential economic effect of this type of educational activity. The article strives to prove a regular pattern of the universities’ transition to e-learning, also in connection with the changes of the educational paradigm and the nature of the educational system management. The hypothesis of the paper is connected with bringing the economic dimension to a humanitarian concept of e-learning, which becomes more and more widespread.The methodology of the article is based on the recognition of the fact that the macroeconomic processes in the information society and the processes occurring in a particular industry—higher education—are of isomorphic nature. On the basis of the analysis of global experience and basic theoretical approaches to e-learning, including the Lifelong Learning concept, the authors make a conclusion of the progressive growth of interest in different countries and regions. The e-learning is treated primarily as a tool to improve quality and efficiency of the educational process. The accuracy of understanding functions and peculiarities of e-learning allows one to determine a positive economic effect of its application for the university, the region, and the employers.The article shows organisational mechanisms and nancial model of implementing e-learning in the Ural Federal University. The description is made of the cost options for open-type e-learning course development, investment parameters for their establishment, as well as costs of implementing educational programmes with the application of e-learning. The analysis of the activities of Ural Federal University on implementing e-learning gives the opportunity to further imagine the effect from the introduction of e-learning in other universities in the region.The results of the research may be applied in the institutions of secondary and higher education to help make decisions concerning the volume and form of the e-learning system

OPEN ONLINE COURSES AS A TOOL FOR MODERNIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN UNIVERSITIES

The article reveals a potential of open online courses in higher education in order to increase its efficiency and availability. The organizational and methodological aspects of e-learning development in higher education are considered. The economic background for implementing open online courses in the educational process is under analysis. On the basis of benchmarking the best foreign and Russian practices the authors propose different cases for online courses implementation to higher education programs, as well as organizational and financial schemes of interaction between higher education institutions

Re-imagining the Pedagogical Paradigm Within a Technology Mediated Learning Environment

Traditional didactic pedagogies employed within the culture of the Russian higher education system precluded students’ engagement with problems which were described as generating dissonances in learning cognition. Addressing issues of dissonance within the higher education learning sphere requires re-imagining the educational culture. Re-imagining provides an opportunity to promote new approaches to learning through alternative affordances; one such affordance is technology mediated learning