Heterogeneous electronic information and educational environment of the university – a problem or an opportunity?

Abstract

E-learning technologies in the context of full-time and distance education have long passed the stage of innovation and have become an integral part of modern professional education. However, a number of issues related to the implementation and maintenance of the educational process based on e-learning are still relevant. This paper analyzes the problem of unification of software products, cloud technologies and services that form the electronic information and educational environment (EIEE) of a university. The authors interpret homogeneity and heterogeneity concepts in the context of the EIEE and illustrate the industry specifics of requirements and expectations for homogeneity. It is clearly proved that the heterogeneous EIEE of the university acts as a useful object/model of study when training specialists for work in cultural institutions in the fields of computer science and computer engineering, applied computer science. In these cases the EIEE structure of the university through the provision of experience develops students readiness for subsequent formal and non-formal life-long training. The paper also presents tools for assessing the existing level of heterogeneity of the EIEE and a method of expert evaluation that allows to predict the optimal level of heterogeneity-homogeneity for the EIEE of a particular university.