Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Approaches to Communication in Education in Distance Learning

Abstract

AbstractThe goal of the empirical research is a qualitative and quantitative analysis of publications on the topic of “communication in education”. The study used content analysis, statistical methods. 198 publications and 231,870 words were analyzed. 3 groups of publications were identified: “communication in education” as activity, as communication, as communication and activity. The largest number of publications belongs to the group “communication in education” as activity, the smallest—“communication in education” as communication, where it is considered as the basis of humanistically oriented education. The number of publications devoted to it has been decreasing over the years, but there is an assimilation of humanistic ideas with national traditions. When approaching “communication in education” as activity, the educator turns out to be the main subject of the educational process, which imposes a special responsibility on him and when this activity becomes more complex, as in the case of distance learning, it leads to stress and overstress of educators. At the same time, the greatest difficulties they face are caused by the inability to fully control the learning process and the violation of traditional status-role positions. When treating “communication in education” as communication, the educator and students share the responsibility for the learning process. It is not of fundamental importance by what means it is mediated. As for “communication in education” as communication and activity, it all depends on how much the teacher is focused on communication and how much on the management of the educational process.KeywordsCommunication in educationDigitalization of educationDistance learning