Challenges of Teaching a Blended English Course to University Students

Abstract

With digitization of our life the vast opportunities the virtual world offers are increasingly employed in teaching and learning. Consequently, there are a growing number of researchers who investigate the most efficient ways of engaging learners and gaining successful results from their learning online. While Western universities already take online learning for granted, Russian universities have just started introducing it for different subjects. This article is focused on the experience of one of the ten largest Russian universities (Ural Federal University) in implementing a blended learning pilot course based on the “Touchstone” coursebook by Cambridge University Press and a corresponding LMS (Learning Management System). The results were far from satisfactory and this article discusses both external and internal factors that could have affected them. The study used the following research methods: statistical analysis of the students’ learning results from the LMS (progress reports and scores), student surveys after the course, informal interviews with pilot course participants. The results of the study reveal that despite the general perception both on the part of the students and teachers that we cannot go on without virtual reality as part of education, few of them are ready to accept that personally and start implementing it in their own lives. Another conclusion is that teachers should seek opportunities to adapt the content of online courses to the Russian university context. And last but not least, not all Russian universities are ready to provide the necessary working conditions for the teachers to work with online content, so they have to monitor students from home, which extends working hours and decreases their motivation.

The impact of Duolingo in developing students’ linguistic competence: an aspect of communicative language competences

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