Digitalisation is penetrating higher education (HE) in Russia. The study explores how three Russian universities have been integrating the Skyes digital learning platform to transform English as a foreign language (EFL) educational practices. The article outlines the main characteristics of the platform, recounts the steps in adopting the technology and addresses the emerging changes to learning and teaching. Students’ and teachers’ perceptions are examined to review the implementation process. The research is designed as a case study; the methods used are semi-structured interviews and online questionnaires. The study framework combines the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model and the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model for a holistic approach to investigating innovation integration in a university setting. TPACK is used to analyse the changes associated with teachers’ knowledge of technology, pedagogy and content. SAMR helps to reflect on the current use of the platform showcasing technology integration along substitution, augmentation and modification levels. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the factors influencing the implementation of the Skyes platform and proposes recommendations for its successful integration; they highlight the importance of motivation, feedback both from teachers and students, clear assessment of the learning outcomes, TPACK transformation plan and alignment between the innovation and educational regulations.
Making decisions in higher education institutions is realized in the context of the VUCA-world-that is, in the conditions of instability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, which are significant markers of today's social, cultural, and organizational reality. The article is a case study of designing and implementing a new educational program in one Russian university. The analysis is shaped in a chain of interconnected decisions revealing the specifics of management decisions in modern universities. The study is based on mixed research methods, including five in-depth interviews with the most important actors involved; observation of the situation development stages; interviews with other actors involved; analysis of state regulatory documents and standards; analysis of university regulatory documents and standards. The case is studied via organized anarchy theory, power and authority in organization theory, risk avoidance and bounded rationality perspectives were used. The analysis of the case has identified the involved parties' power boundaries blurring, the uncertainty of the «game rules», the exclusion of some important stakeholders from the decision-making process, the experience and expertise partially lacking in new decision-making situations, the ambiguity of several demanded organizational procedures. There are presented a number of strategies that can potentially reduce the level of uncertainty and improve the quality of decisions taken at universities. These include decomposing a problem situation, using techniques for analyzing complex decisions, increasing the role of participation and involvement, managing the distribution of information flows, preventing the phenomenon of group thinking. The article proposes measures of organizing political negotiations, improving the quality of communication, applying the principles of self-learning organization. The article contains a new and weakly presented in Russian scientific literature analysis of the theory and practice of decision-making management. The described strategies are designed to create solid background for mostly mature management decisions in universities.
Artificial intelligence methods are getting frequently used in research and development in learning analytics, which is aimed at analyzing data collected during learning to enhance its results. The same aim is relevant for instructional design models, the most widely applied is ADDIE model, which cuts course design into steps. The first two research fields are criticized for a weak connection to teaching practice, while the third lacks evidence-based and measurable nature. This literature review aims to show the prospects of bringing the three fields together. The theoretical analysis of the paper covers AI definition, its techniques and methods, areas of application in educational setting, the definition of learning analytics, its borders with other fields, spheres of application, definition and the essence of instructional design, as well as the concept of ADDIE model which frames the practical analysis of the review. Forty-three articles were included in the final sample. The solutions described there correlate with the tasks of the instructional design steps and are systematized according to them. It was found that the least number of solutions described in the literature were assigned to the analysis, design and evaluation steps, more articles were assigned to the development step, and the largest number of papers considered the application step. It can be due to the difference in the availability of data at different ADDIE steps. The weak focus of teachers on methodological reflection at the assessment step also may play a role. These deficiencies open up the opportunities for future research and developments. To push these solutions forward it is crucial to elaborate on the models, to move from anecdotal experiments to a wide-scale practice, and to enhance required competencies among the faculty. The questions and conclusions presented in the article help to set a new pedagogically-oriented framework for discussions of AI and learning data analytics.
Introduction. The authors tackle the topical problem of assessing the conflict level between subidentical groups: “management academics” (professors and lectures staff) and “academic managers” (administrative managing staff). The aim of the paper is to construct a new method of quantitative assessment of the conflict level between professional groups generated by the organizational culture; to study the dynamics of the change in the conflict level between professional and age-based cohorts existing in Russian universities. Materials and Methods. In this study, the conflict level is defined as a difference of common cultural vectors found for each of target age-groups, demonstrating generations’ behavioral features and their professional competence, set up as the result of analysis of expert assessments with the help of organizational culture methods developed by the Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument of K. Сameron and R. Quinn. Empirical data are taken from sociological research involving 384 respondents from 18 universities representing 12 regions of the Russian Federation. Results. It is shown that activity of the considered target bunches is under significant influence of hierarchical (bureaucratic) organizational culture. This objective circumstance of proceeding transformation processes forms the basis for fragmentation of existing academic identity into those intra-university bunches which are combined both in terms of valuable patterns of generations and patterns formed under the influence of social and economic conditions. Interference of various age-grade valuable patterns under permanent current transformation invokes escalation of strife, its minimum level is reached in identical age-grades of professors and lectures staff (“management academics”) and administrative managing staff (“academic managers”). A certain influence on the level of conflicts between the target groups under consideration is produced by the degree of goals adequacy and objectives of the university available resources (competence, material, technical, and financial base). Discussion and Conclusion The novelty of the conducted research lies in consideration of conflict problems in universities arisen from the increasing differentiation of general cultural vectors of university communities. Complex, sustainable and reproducible nature of this social phenomenon, linking together both value and behavioral aspects of university communities, requires a transformation of research tactics. The research materials might be useful in practical work of heads of universities as scientific and methodological recommendations for the study and prediction of conflict processes i n universities.
Teaching excellence and academic leadership programs have been emerging and growing in response to the increasing demand for better teaching quality and educational change in universities all over the world. International publications analyzing the experiences of high-ranking universities in developed economies (USA, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Australia) are reviewed in this article to identify the characteristics of successful professional development programs for teaching quality and academic leadership in higher education designed to foster educational change. Some fundamental concepts are investigated, such as teaching excellence, teaching quality, instructional development, and academic leadership; their fuzziness and partial overlapping are demonstrated. The article also describes the characteristics of teaching excellence programs for academic leaders, such as key stakeholders (governmental, institutional, and teacher demands) and major approaches to promoting teaching excellence and academic leadership, which include the concept of reflective practice, andragogical theory, transformative learning approach, self-directed learning, inquiry-based learning, and refocusing from teacher to student. The core design features of teaching excellence and academic leadership programs are discussed, such as selection criteria, frequency and duration, principles and formats of implementation, performance and effectiveness assessment. Special emphasis is placed upon the potential obstacles in program realization, in particular the role of internal administrative policies and institutional environment on program effectiveness and the embeddedness of such programs into the university system of educational quality assurance, teacher performance monitoring, career advancement, and human resource strategies.
Дэвид Стэйли, директор Института гуманитарных наук Университета Огайо, историк и футуролог, обобщая свои идеи относительно возможных путей развития высшего образования, предлагает всем заинтересованным погрузиться в альтернативные миры будущего, где образование трансформировалось весьма радикальным образом, а университеты обрели новые модели, протоформаты которых мы можем обнаружить в сегодняшнем дне. В своем историческом воображении, перенаправленном из прошлого в будущее, Стэйли описывает: 1) Университет-платформу, аналог супермаркета; 2) систему микроколледжей, базирующихся на авторитете центральных профессоров; 3) Гуманитарный аналитический центр, давший новую роль представителям социогуманитарных наук; 4) Университет номадов, располагающийся везде и нигде одновременно; 5) Колледж свободных искусств, радикально развивающий идеи liberal arts; 6) Интерфейсный университет, выстроенный на взаимодействии человеческого и искусственного интеллектов; 7) Университет тела, позволяющий обрабатывать информацию всеми органами чувств; 8) Институт продвинутой игры, делающий ставку на игру, воображение и построение альтернативных миров; 9) Университет полиматов, сочетающий обучение одновременно трем разным специальностям и формирующий разные типы мышления; 10) Университет будущего, обучающий чистой и прикладной футурологии. Книга опубликована в 2019 году и аккумулирует в себе все передовые идеи в области путей развития высшего образования, что делает ее чрезвычайно актуальной в эпоху активных реформ в этой сфере. Ключевые слова: высшее образование, университет будущего, модель университета, футурология, история образования, прогнозирование. Благодарность. Результаты были получены в рамках выполнения работы по гранту Российского научного фонда, проект № 19-18-00485 «Человеческое измерение трансформационных процессов в российских университетах: исторический опыт, тенденции и ответы на вызовы современности».
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