Online Environment: Autonomy or Limitation?

Abstract

The paper provides the study of the topical issue of modern education which defines online learning as an environment characterized by both autonomy and limitation for all the participants of the educational process. The reasons for raising this issue have been investigated and listed as follows: necessary moving to an online due to the pandemic of recent years; technical, methodological and technological lack of preparedness of teachers to implement the educational process in a new environment; a low level of motivation of teachers and students to work online efficiently, even though having a high level of digital proficiency. The authors consider the autonomy of an online learning environment in terms of the power of digital tools to be used in solving methodological problems and designing a pedagogical scenario in the logic of achieving planned educational results. Teachers’ and students’ autonomy in an online environment is realized in: a wide choice of different ways to present educational information; a variety of technologies to increase educational motivation; the possibility of implementing the ideas of microlearning; gamification of the educational process; monitoring the psychological well-being of a students, a positive attitude; a variety of individual trajectories of learning and a significantly changed role of students; the possibility of synchronous and asynchronous work, the presenting forms of the students’ projects and its evaluation, monitoring of students’ achievements. The limitations of an online environment as the authors conclude are mostly created by the participants of the educational process. This is an automatic rejection of new requirements and conditions and resistance to changes. The teachers’ lack of preparedness to solve the educational tasks in an online environment is doubled with the poor technical conditions of the physical environment. A major role in appearing the limitations online is also played by the methodological illiteracy of the teachers and the thoughtless use of digital solutions with no reference to educational tasks. The redesign of the pedagogical scenario and role changing of all the participants of the educational process could solve the problem of limitation of an online educational environment.