Use Of Open Courses Research Articles

OPEN ELECTRONIC COURSES IN THE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY OF THE UNIVERSITY

Introduction: The distribution of open online courses makes the education system change and these changes are rather serious. These courses exert a positive influence on society, widely spreading education around the world. During the globalization of education, these courses provide open access to the educational content of the world's leading universities. The use of open electronic courses is a relatively new direction in education, which has not been profoundly studied by researchers. The introduction of these courses causes the change in the structure of the educational system. Therefore, the article considers the specifics of implementing online courses, including requirements for them, as well as factors that slow down their active development. Materials and methods: analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction. Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University has been given as an example The results of the research Having studied the "The Regulations on the use of open courses in educational activities of the Minin university" in addition to establishing the functions of coordination group on open education, it has been noted that after completing the course, in case of unsatisfactory result,the the student is given an opportunity to have one more attempt to pass the exam. Discussion and conclusion: the article concludes that open courses are a new qualitative step in the development of world education, but online courses would be much more effective if they were field-specific, designed for adults who are deeply motivated for training. Minin University, which we took as a basis for the research, showed that the university is ready to implement online courses. It is one of the few universities in Russia actively implementing open courses.

Open courses and MOOCs as professional development – is the openness a hindrance?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse if open courses, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), can be used as professional development despite their openness since the openness not only brings together individuals from different organizations but also may make the results of collaboration public. Design/methodology/approach – The setting is eight companies in different sectors and networks, collaborating with Higher Education Institutions in developing open courses in externally funded projects. The opinions of managers and HR-specialists in the companies are investigated and analysed. Findings – The managers and HR-specialists are positive to open courses that deliver professional development. They consider the openness in this kind of course to be of no significant problem. The employee knows what can be shared and what can be kept secret. The conditions are, however, different depending on the kind of company and the kind of inter-company relationship that exists. Research limitations/implications – Several interesting questions arise for future research about the use of open courses as professional development in different categories of inter-firm relationship and trust. Practical implications – If the openness is not a hindrance open online courses would appear to meet the requirement of flexibility; they have the potential of being suitable for professional development for individuals who want to increase their competence, but also as organized professional development in organizations and businesses. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies of the openness as a potential hindrance when open courses including MOOCs are utilized as professional development.