This is an introductory text to a collection of papers from the ICSF 2020: The International

The article clarifies the concept of “virtual information educational environment” (VIEE) and examines the researchers’ views on its meaning exposed in the scientific literature. The article determines the didactic potential of the virtual information educational environment for the geography students training based on the analysis of the authors’ experience of blended learning by means of the Google Classroom. It also specifies the features (immersion, interactivity, and dynamism, sense of presence, continuity, and causality). The authors highlighted the advantages of virtual information educational environment implementation, such as: increase of the efficiency of the educational process by intensifying the process of cognition and interpersonal interactive communication; continuous access to multimedia content both in Google Classroom and beyond; saving student time due to the absence of necessity to work out the training material “manually”; availability of virtual pages of the virtual class; individualization of the educational process; formation of informational culture of the geography students; and more productive learning of the educational material at the expense of IT educational facilities. Among the disadvantages the article mentions low level of computerization, insignificant quantity and low quality of software products, underestimation of the role of VIЕЕ in the professional training of geography students, and the lack of economic stimuli, etc.

The article dwells upon the scientifically relevant problem of using cloud-based GIS-technologies when training future geography teachers (based on ArcGIS Online application). The authors outline the basic principles for implementing ArcGIS Online in the educational process (interdisciplinary integration, the sequence of individualization in training, communicability, distance education and regional studies), and provide an example of an interactive map created with the help of the specified cloud GIS, since this kind of map is the most popular a form of research by geography students. In the article it is noted that integration of ArcGIS Online into the educational process allows the teacher to follow a clear pedagogical strategy, taking into account possible variants of its use (demonstration, direct mastering of GIS in a computer class and independent work in an individual mode). Considering cloud GIS as a new stage in the development of geoinformational education, the authors emphasize their key benefits (round-the-clock access, work with GIS package in the cloud, the ability to use other maps as well as the creation of their own maps and web-applications) and disadvantages (monetization of services, underestimation of the GIS role in the curriculum of the higher school, the lack of Ukrainian content, etc.).

The article substantiates the necessity of using innovative technologies in the process of studying and teaching geographical disciplines at secondary schools. Particular attention is paid to distance learning as a pedagogical innovation, its theoretical aspects and the ways of its introduction into the educational process. The relevance of using distance learning at the New Ukrainian School is proved. Its advantages and disadvantages are revealed. The examples of some forms of distance learning that will contribute to geographical competence development according to European requirements are provided. The article particularly focuses on the Massive Open Online Courses, modern websites, virtual portals of individual teachers, LearningApps.org portal, and Moodle.

The training of pre-service mathematics teachers is a complex process due to the specifics of the field. Informatization of education affects all the areas, and pre-service mathematics teachers can not be left out. The article is devoted to the problem of supporting the process of professional training of pre-service mathematics teachers by means of cloud services. Examples of the use of cloud technologies are given. The analysis of a survey of pre-service mathematics teachers on the use of information and communication technologies in the training process is done.

The article is devoted to the problem of incorporation geographic information systems (GIS) in world school practice. The authors single out the stages of GIS application in school geographical education based on the retrospective analysis of the scientific literature. The first stage (late 70 s – early 90s of the 20th century) is the beginning of the first educational GIS programs and partnership agreements between schools and universities. The second stage (mid-90s of the 20th century – the beginning of the 21st century) comprises the distribution of GIS-educational programs in European and Australian schools with the involvement of leading developers of GIS-packages (ESRI, Intergraph, MapInfo Corp., etc.). The third stage (2005–2012) marks the spread of the GIS school education in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America; on the fourth stage (from 2012 to the present) geographic information systems emerge in school curricula in most countries. The characteristics of the GIS-technologies development stages are given considering the GIS didactic possibilities for the study of school geography, as well as highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.

The article deals with the analysis of the impact of the using AR technology in the study of a foreign language by university students. It is stated out that AR technology can be a good tool for learning a foreign language. The use of elements of AR in the course of studying a foreign language, in particular in the form of virtual excursions, is proposed. Advantages of using AR technology in the study of the German language are identified, namely: the possibility of involvement of different channels of information perception, the integrity of the representation of the studied object, the faster and better memorization of new vocabulary, the development of communicative foreign language skills. The ease and accessibility of using QR codes to obtain information about the object of study from open Internet sources is shown. The results of a survey of students after virtual tours are presented. A reorientation of methodological support for the study of a foreign language at universities is proposed. Attention is drawn to the use of AR elements in order to support students with different learning styles (audio, visual, kinesthetic).

The article is devoted to the topical issue of the cloud technologies implementation in educational process in general and when studying geography, in particular. The authors offer a selection of online services which can contribute to the effective acquisition of geographical knowledge in higher school. The publication describes such cloud technologies as Gapminder, DESA, Datawrapper.de, Time.Graphics, HP Reveal, MOZAIK education, Settera Online, Click-that-hood, Canva, Paint Instant. It is also made some theoretical generalization of their economic, technical, technological, didactic advantages and disadvantages. Visual examples of application are provided in the article. The authors make notice that in the long run the technologies under study should become a valuable educational tool of creation virtual information and education environments connected into common national, and then global, educational space.