Virtual Educational Environment Research Articles

Studenti kao kreatori obrazovnog sadržaja u onlajn obrazovanju odraslih

Online education must be based on a rich interaction between all participants in the educational process in order to be successful. The interaction between students and educational content is important since it enables students actualize their role as creators of online educational content. For the purpose of understanding students' contribution in the context of creating online educational content, a qualitative research with students of the 2nd and the 4th year of basic andragogy studies was conducted at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade within the Online Adult Education course implemented through the Moodle LMS. The paper describes one teaching unit as an example of good practice of positioning students at the very center of the online educational process. Research results confirm that by interacting with educational content students significantly contribute to the modification and production of new educational content. Important andragogical moments that transform virtual worlds into virtual educational environments were identified as a result of this interaction.

Виртуальная среда управления образовательным процессом

The article deals with the methodology of management of independent work of students in the blended learning framework based on a virtual educational environment, which is a component of the electronic information and educational environment of the University. Particular attention is paid to the requirements for interactive software products that form the basis virtual of the learning environment: the requirements of convenience, accessibility, didactic efficiency, and tools for their development.

Digitalization of higher education and its social outcomes

The article, based on the analysis of publications related to digitalization of higher education, identified four trends associated with the introduction of digital technologies and tools in the educational process: the formation of a model of blended learning, the transition to online education, creating a virtual (digital) educational environment, and changing the approach to management of educational organizations. These trends are interconnected, however, each of them has a specific impact on the higher education institution, which is illustrated. On the one hand, digitalization promotes openness, flexibility of education, increased student engagement in the learning process, and the development of a network model of interaction between universities. On the other hand, it leads to the creation of a new educational situation and the inclusion of new actors in the education system, which changes the configuration of relations between the main participants. Digitalization, requiring appropriate adaptation, introduces significant changes in the roles of teachers and students in the learning process. The transition to online education and the creation of a virtual educational environment give rise to the need for changing the management of an educational organization. And if these changes do not take place, digitalization can lead to negative effects. The author justifies the need to systematize the social effects of digitalization of higher education and develops a research design for studying the social risks of transformation of the higher education institution under the influence of digitalization. The study is based on the strategy of a case study. A neo-institutional approach, emphasizing the cultural and cognitive aspect of the institute’s interpretation, was proposed as the methodological basis for the study. At the same time, the higher education institute is considered in the context of the social institute concept proposed by P. Berger and T. Lukman.

Antecedents and Consequences of User Acceptance of Three-Dimensional Virtual Worlds in Higher Education

Antecedents and Consequences of User Acceptance of Three-Dimensional Virtual Worlds in Higher Education

PECULIARITIES OF USING THE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGICAL PARADIGM OF INTELLECT DEVELOPMENT IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS OF HEI (HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS)

In the context of the implementation of higher education, the problem of forming the cognitive sphere of students acquires special relevance, because it is impossible to imagine the training of a qualified specialist without the appropriate level of cognitive development. The main aspects of cognitive processes formation strategy of higher education institutions students, based on the basic provisions of the design and technological paradigm of intellect development was analyzed in the article. It was also revealed the main theoretical provisions of the specified methodological direction, namely, the content of the concepts “design” and “technology”. It was figured out that the design of intellectual processes involves the creation of an object influence project, the creation of the management activities project and the development of learning influences model. It was established that the structure of the student's model consists of the following components: general age, level of success, temperament type, character traits, abilities, level of communication, features of the emotional sphere, level of memory, imagination, thinking, perception, and general indicators of intellectual development. A combined training model of students' cognitive processes was proposed, which provides a combination of direct and network interaction. At the same time, the training is interpreted as a specific group learning using the effects of facilitation and giving more personal freedom to students, which forms the cognitive structures according to a given model. Psychological mechanisms of distance learning are analyzed. The following main organizational aspects of training are defined: creation of comfortable working conditions, observance of rules of group work, maintenance of effective reflection, formation of atmosphere of free communication and psychological safety, effective psychological and pedagogical support, self-development orientation. The next conclusions on pedagogical possibilities of network structures were offered: educational group work carried out via the Internet is possible and can be effective under certain conditions; a necessary condition for such work is the creation of a virtual educational environment that provides active, proactive and subjective implementation of various distance learning forms; the effectiveness of group work via the Internet increases due to the use of interactive multimedia technologies.

SIMULATION VIRTUAL EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AS SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL SPACE: DUALITY OF NATURE

Based on the integrative interpretation of the Federal Law «On Education in the Russian Federation» and a number of positions of foreign and Russian scientists, this article comprehensively examines the essence of a simulated virtual educational environment. In the framework of the presented analysis, being a lecturer at a military university, the author actualises the problem from the standpoint of ensuring the qualitative growth of the potential of higher military education, where the formation of professional competency of future army offi cers via innovative technologies is deemed the key factor. The article emphasises that out of the existing educational media only the technosphere of e-learning is enshrined in the federal Law «On Education in the Russian Federation « (Article 16, Clause 1), i.e. the information presented in the databases and the infrastructure for its accumulation, storage and transmission, while the content and application methods along with the forms of e-learning are overlooked. In this regard, the article is focused on understanding the essence of a simulated virtual educational environment and learning tools in it. As a result of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that such environment is created not only with the help of information and communication technologies, but also with the intellect and imagination of a person, highlighting the duality of the essence of the virtual environment, its external and internal material and ideal manifestations.

Инновационные тренажеры систем автоматики и телемеханики

The article deals with the issues of training in educational institutions and enterprises of railway transport using simulators built on the basis of real actual equipment of railway automation and telemechanics, and virtual simulators that simulate the operation of real equipment by analog or digital modeling. Advantages and disadvantages of real and virtual simulators are considered. The directions for their further improvement are indicated. One of the directions is the development of innovative simulators that combine real equipment and its virtual environment in one laboratory layout. The first innovative simulator at the Department of “Automation, telemechanics and communication on railway transport” is the automated workplace of the train dispatcher. Further improvement of innovative simulators is the development and implementation in the laboratory of station systems of automation and telemechanics of the department of the set of remote fault assignment with an automated workplace of the teacher. The article describes the structural flowcharts of the remote fault assignment set and its main blocks. Innovative simulators also include a simulator of the train passing through the control section KTSM-02, which allows to simulate the operation of floor sensors in the same sequence as when passing a real train. The article describes a virtual simulator, which includes a laboratory model for the study of neutral electromagnetic relays in 3D. Advantages of integrating innovative simulators with virtual educational environment of the University are indicated.

FORMATION OF COGNITIVE SKILLS OF STUDENTS IN CONDITIONS OF DIGITAL LEARNING

This article deals with the problem of formation of coherent skills of students when teaching them mathematics in modern information society. The author considers learning technologies and means of building cognitive skills in students, which best contribute to this goal. Methodological projects of application in mathematical education of students of training in cooperation, design and problem training, as well as network training are presented. The article considers various means of cognitive skills formation, which can be used by the teacher of higher school. These include joint development of educational content, implementation of educational network projects, training in the «inverted class» model, on mass open online courses, in network educational communities. Special attention is paid to the organization of educational activities of students in the network educational community. An analysis of the benefits of education in the online education community allowed the author to make one aware of the feasibility of using them in the educational process. It is proposed to use one of the virtual educational environments – Sakai platform, which provides great opportunities in designing its own information environment to support the educational process, for the organisation of online student education and cooperation.

СОЗДАНИЕ ВИРТУАЛЬНОЙ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЙ СРЕДЫ С ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ КВЕСТОВ

The article deals with the creation of a virtual educational environment associated with the functioning of three centers for collective use of Tambov State Technical University, using special equipment (panoramic camera Insta360 Pro 6 with fish-eye lenses, viewing angle of each lens 200°). The 3D Vista Virtual Tour software was chosen as the development environment for the virtual tour, using functions related to e-learning and automatic integration with Moodle LMS. The virtual space of the created educational environment provides an opportunity for the existence of various forms of educational communication, based on the capabilities of modern teaching aids and modern information and communication technologies, allows providing conditions for improving the quality of education, exchange of views, mutual consultation, including increasing the level of professional competencies of applicants and students.

The Effect of Museum Education Practices Carried out on Virtual Teaching Environments on Prospective Teachers' Views

In this study, the effect of museum education practices implemented with virtual teaching environments on the views of prospective teachers was analysed. The research was carried out with a case study design, which is one of the qualitative methods. The views of the prospective teachers about the museum education practices implemented with virtual teaching environments were examined with content analysis. 25 prospective teachers participated to the study. In the research, first of all, virtual museum environments in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations were made interactive by using the edpuzzle application, and sound recordings and quiz questions related to museum activities were added to the videos. In addition, instructional materials related to museum hunting activities that the candidates used through virtual museum applications were designed. The experimental study with museum educational activities designed ith virtual teaching environments was implemented for four weeks. The results showed that these activities about the practices positively influenced the views of prospective teachers and that these practices were highly effective in teaching social studies course. In addition to this, it was determined that teacher candidates believed that an active teaching process could be created with virtual museum applications and that the learning about social studies course could be more easily embodied.

INFORMATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL COMPETENCIES IN MEDICAL E-EDUCATION

Introduction: The article analyses systematized ideas on е-education as informational-psychological technology of educational competencies development applied to medical education. In the widest sense, е-education is interpreted as use of internet for learning. Such aspects of this informational-psychological technology, as virtual educational environment and subjects of educational process (е-student, educational technologist, librarian, teacher) are examined in the article. The aim. On the basis of the above information, one can formulate the purpose of the article, which is to present systematized representations of e-learning as an informational and psychological technology for the development of educational competencies in the process of postgraduate medical education. Materials and methods: In the work is used a range of methods: content analysis, bibliosemantic, systematic approach, analysis of products of activity. Review: Features of e-education are explored as an adaptive educational technology in the process of medical education and retraining. Target-orientation is emphasized as key important principle of effective informational-psychological technology of educational competencies development. Virtual educational environment is researched as the computer-integrated е-learning, which typically includes wide set of various tools for effective delivery of e-educational content to the audience, which improves co-operation and management. The article proves that structural and contentual dimensions of е-teaching make fundamental influence on what can or can't take place within e-educational process and even on how teachers and students build their own knowledge within e-courses, build that they what do (not) know, and the process of this construction. It is mentioned that the role of content within the е-educational environment can acquire many various forms, including educational materials, reference sources, as well as any practice-related materials, like scientific articles or clinical protocols and instructions. Some most typical functions, instruments and services, usually available in a virtual educational environment, are described in the article. Conclusion is made about considerable potential of е-education as an effective informational-psychological technology of educational process in medical education.

Virtual educational environment: interactive communication using LMS Moodle

The study considers the problems relating to vocational training of specialists in the virtual educational environment of a higher education institution. The use of advanced information and communication systems (electronic mail, electronic teleconferences, electronic and information resources including text, visual, audio and video information) and virtual technology (Daydream, Vive VR, technology of virtual games) in the educational process of a higher education institution enables to realize an interactive communication of the participants of this process. The article presents the experience on introduction of the virtual educational environment using LMS Moodle, and the authors consider the influence of such environment on the interactive engagement of the students and teachers from the universities in Kazakhstan and Slovakia. We have tried to demonstrate how the LMS Moodle platform helps arrange e-learning, conduct lessons in electronic classrooms, take online courses, and conduct synchronous and asynchronous learning. The developed online tasks allowed for the monitoring of the students’ progress in all the educational activities. The results of the experiment helped guide the choice of follow-up study in this area.

TeleMeios as a Virtual Environment and their possibilities in Hybrid Education

The discussion contemplates the construction and development of collaborative digital tools to support distance teaching, with its origins still in the 2000s, within the scope of the Multimeios Research Laboratory, linked to the Faculty of Education (FACED) of UFC, located at city of Fortaleza / Ceará / Brazil. Thus, it aims to analyze the experiences of construction and (re) structuring of the TeleMeios Virtual Teaching Environment (VTE) and its adaptive possibilities in a hybrid context, with a view to subsidizing formative actions in which learners and teachers can have access to virtual experiences in the learning environment which play the role of protagonists. As theoretical reference, there are the studies of Borges (2009), Jucá (2011), Moran (2015), Bacich; Tanzi Neto; Trevisani (2015) among others, which discuss about teaching and hybrid education, digital information and communication technologies, as well as other themes involving teaching and virtual and classroom learning. The research is bibliographical, of a qualitative nature, anchored in Lakatos and Marconi (2002), which makes use of publications such as textbooks, scientific articles, reviews, which deal with the subject. Among the findings, it can be highlighted that the TeleMeios environment has a formative potential to be explored and investigated, focusing on the structural and pedagogical design of virtual environments that surpass the concept of content repository and the idea of students as receptacles of knowledge. and teachers, as sole holders of knowledge.

Significant experience: academic writing and collaborative work in master of education

The following text narrates the academic writing experience of the collaboration of an academic team work, composed of Isabel Aristizabal, Mauricio Santa and Claudia Mesa as directed by Mercedes Vallejo, membership researcher in Virtual Environments for Education (VEE) Research Group, about the degree thesis of the “Master in Education, with focus in learning environments mediated by ICT” in Pontifical Bolivarian University of Medellin-Colombia, which is called “Effects on teacher's pedagogical practice that have developed significant experience with digital inclusion after receiving the award “Premio Ciudad de Medellín a la calidad de la Educación 2010-2013.”

Технологія формування іншомовної професійної компетентності студентів в освітньому просторі закладу вищої освіти

Educational space of a higher education institution constantly and continuously influences student’s personality as well as his / her developing as a competent specialist. The research was aimed at substantiating pedagogical technologies that optimize the process of forming students’ foreign-language professional competence within the educational space of a higher education institution. Theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison, systematization, pedagogical modelling), empirical (observation, pedagogical experiment, peer review method, reflexive evaluation method) and statistical methods were applied to achieve the set goal. Educational space of a higher education institution is defined as a purposefully created, methodically provided continuum of students’ foreign-language professional communication under conditions of which the development of their personality and effective formation of their foreign-language professional competence take place. Foreign-language professional competence as an integrative personality trait, determined by the synthesis of knowledge and skills, professional and life experience, values that ensure long-term readiness and ability to pursue professional activity in a foreign language, is developed effectively if the educational space of a higher education institution is multilingual and multicultural in its nature, broad, rich in foreign-language professional content, open, directed outwards. When designing educational space, it is necessary to rationally combine educational and non-educational components, provide in-class and out-of-class / extracurricular foreign-language educational and cognitive activities of students, use facilities of virtual educational environment, apply technics of contextual teaching, implement imitative and playing activities, interactive forms of training (games, project activity, case-study). In-class educational activity influences such components of foreign-language competence as “knowledge” and “skills”, whereas an extracurricular one aims at forming “values” and “experience”. Keywords: educational space of a higher education institution, foreign-language professional competence, virtual educational environment, educational and non-educational components, imitative and playing activities.

ВИВЧЕННЯ ІНОЗЕМНОЇ МОВИ ЗА ДОПОМОГОЮ СИНХРОННОГО 3D ВІРТУАЛЬНОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА

Learning a foreign language is considered in Ukraine as a necessary condition for admission to higher education institutions for highly paid professions and as an important part of globalization and international communication. The emphasis on learning a foreign language led to the introduction of a wide range of measures for effective language acquisition, from traditional English courses taught in the classroom of the University, to the use of synchronous-asynchronous learning tools. Learning through the Internet as a kind of distance learning “has the ability to be an ideal means of learning a foreign language, as synchronous and asynchronous technologies provide a large number of functions to ensure the organization and conduct of creative teaching activities, but the analysis of recent studies and publications showed that in the psychological and pedagogical, scientific and special literature is not sufficiently investigated the implementation of virtual electronic learning environments. The article presents the relevance of the need to find new methods and technologies of teaching activities for the study of a foreign language, which are adequate to modern trends and requirements of society. The analysis of the prospects of application of synchronous 3D virtual environment for the possibility of distance learning of a foreign language as one of the conditions of quality training of future specialists for professional activity is generalized. A number of General features, advantages, introduction of the virtual educational environment, in the conditions of the investigated technology considering psychological and pedagogical features of students, which are directed on development of productive thinking and educational activity, are characterized. Language learning in a 3D synchronous virtual environment is still at an experimental stage, with great potential for full immersion in distance learning programs. No change in the 21st century will be as significant or as far-reaching as distance learning, and if this is the case, the virtual learning environment in one form or another will play a very important role in educational programs.

Examining the Impact of a Gamified Entrepreneurship Education Framework in Higher Education

Entrepreneurship education constitutes a top priority in policy agendas across the globe as a means to promote economic growth, fight unemployment and create social capital. An important premise of entrepreneurship education is that it can be learned and students can be taught to formulate entrepreneurial mentality, skills and competencies, something that can result in the formulation of startups and business initiatives. Given the importance of entrepreneurship, the necessity to formulate efficient entrepreneurship education frameworks and training programs arise. In this work, we present the design of an entrepreneurship educational environment that is based on learning in 3D virtual worlds. Innovative 3D virtual reality technologies were utilized to provide immersive and efficient learning activities. Various topics of entrepreneurship education courses were designed and formulated to offer students the opportunity to obtain theoretical knowledge of entrepreneurship. The 3D virtual reality educational environment utilizes pedagogical approaches that are based on gamification principles, allowing students to study in immersive ways as well as in game-based learning activities on real challenges that can be found in business environments. The game-based learning activities can help students gain necessary skills, helping them to tackle everyday obstacles on their entrepreneurial pathways. An experimental study was performed to explore the learning efficiency of the environment and the gamified learning activities as well as assess their learning impact on student’s motivation, attitude, and overall learning experience. The evaluation study revealed that the framework offers efficient gamified learning activities that increase students’ motivation and assist in the formulation of entrepreneurship mentality, skills and competencies.

TUTORING AS A FACTOR OF SUBJECTNESS DEVELOPMENT OF ADULTS IN COMBINED FULL-TIME AND DISTANCE LEARNING

The article shows theoretical analysis of the issue of subjectness development of adults in combined full-time and distance learning, in particular it suggests the understanding of tutoring as a technique of learning’s individualization, which involves the formation of real conditions for an «entry» of each applicant of education with one’s personal aspirations and resources into educational process, as managing one’s own educational trajectory. It is proven that nowadays to consider the application of contemporary innovations in education is no longer possible separately from techniques of designing of virtual educational environments, created using software and computer networks. Combined full-time and distance learning is defined as a dynamic configuration of full-time, independent and online learning, and its integrative potential – as a productive combination of experience of classical learning with cotemporary technological innovations in education. The author explains that the full-time and distant educational environment is formed in the interaction of multiple subjects, and their relations are determined by fundamentally new functional specificity. The article shows that an important condition for subjectness development in educational environment is the dialogicity of pedagogical communication, which enables the implementation of subject- subjectness relations in the process of learning. The implementation of subjectness strategy of pedagogical dialogue is based on the awakening of creative activity of interaction’s participants, which is accompanied by increased motivation towards learning and development of a person in general. It is explained that prospects for development of education, and in the first place, of combined learning, are related to the institute of tutoring, which is able to actualize and accumulate processes aimed at expanding the semantic range of the «Other» in educational environment. It is the idea of tutoring that can be implemented and effectively applied in the creation of contemporary practices and techniques of combined learning, which main idea is to construct personal «possible worlds» in communicative educational space. Keywords: subjectness, combined full-time and distance learning, dialogicity, tutor, tutoring. Accepted: 04. 0 9 .2018 Reviewed: 18 .0 9 .2018 Published: 12 .10.2018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31108/3.2019.2.9.3 * * * * * Завантажити/прочитати статтю PDF

Tecnologias digitais de informação e comunicação como suporte ao Estágio em Odontologia

O estudo visou aplicar as Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação (TDIC) como suporte ao ensino no campo estágio em Odontologia através de um ambiente virtual de ensino (AVE) aberto, que atendesse às necessidades do estágio. Foi elaborado um sistema de avaliação que analisou os diversos aspectos da aprendizagem em campo. Foi implementado um portfólio de atividades como estratégia educativa no AVE e elaboradas categorias e critérios para sua análise. As ferramentas mais usadas no AVE foram o portfólio, o fórum de discussão e o diário de bordo, segundo a opinião dos estudantes. Aproximadamente 80% dos estudantes e 100% dos preceptores afirmaram que a inserção do AVE favoreceu o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. As ferramentas digitais criadas foram consideradas facilitadoras da aprendizagem pelos estudantes e preceptores avaliados. As TDIC contribuíam para a melhoria dos cursos de graduação, envolvendo de forma mais intensa alunos e professores, integrando-os às estratégias de comunicação, muitas vezes já tão utilizadas em contextos diversos fora da universidade. Foi possível caracterizar os estudantes analisados como sendo a maioria do sexo feminino, solteiros e sem filhos. Além disso, a maioria dos discentes somente estuda. Os estudantes avaliaram como positivo o desempenho dos preceptores. Não foram relatadas dificuldades vivenciadas pelos estudantes e preceptores com a utilização do AVE. O uso dessas tecnologias focou nos componentes curriculares do curso envolvidos, priorizando o acesso síncrono e assíncrono aos conteúdos, a autonomia dos discentes e a disseminação de uma cultura digital. A adequação das metodologias de ensino, permitiu melhorias no desempenho acadêmico dos alunos, professores e preceptores e estimulou o processo de educação permanente, facilitando o ensino-aprendizagem no Estágio em Odontologia.

Exploring Student Activity with Learning Analytics in the Digital Environments of the Nebrija University

The main objective of educational institutions is to achieve the integral development of their students in their learning and knowledge construction process. One way to achieve these objectives is the accompaniment and continuous monitoring of students in this process, adapting the methods to their training needs. In online and mixed teaching modalities (eLearning methodology), this monitoring is carried out through the digital platforms in which it is carried out in the academic activity, such as the learning management system platforms. These virtual teaching and learning environments (EVA) allow access to learners’ fingerprints, generating a large volume of data, that analysis allows a deep way of their behavior in those policies. This article collects the results of the exploration of student activity in the virtual campus (Blackboard Learn), which is in the first phase of Learning Analytics project carried out by the Nebrija University and discusses its implications for educational institutions. The data extracted correspond to the 2016–2017 course and have been analyzed around four blocks of information: user behavior, user activity, activity in the content areas and activity in the forums.