TOMSK, Apr 6 – RIA Tomsk. Tomsk State University (TSU) launched a training course on transferring the educational process online; thanks to 20 years of experience in distance learning, TSU expects to become one of the main platforms for transferring school teachers to distance learning, the university’s press service said on Monday.
Earlier it was reported that from March 31 to April 14 in the Tomsk region there is a regime of complete self-isolation, implying a ban on leaving the house for no strong reason. Under these conditions, TSU transferred 4500 current courses online, teachers use all available platforms for training, most of the work is recorded in Moodle. All schools in Tomsk and municipal institutions of additional education from April 6 switched to a remote mode of operation.
“Students and schoolchildren of Russia started distance learning. It’s quite difficult to independently switch from the usual format to working in a virtual audience, so TSU has now launched its own course and helps several thousand teachers to transfer the educational process to a digital one”, - is said in the statement.
Back in 2017, TSU received the right to create a regional center of competencies in the field of online learning. Thanks to this, in 2017 - 2019, the competence center created at the university provided expert support for the transition to the "digital" level of universities, colleges and schools. For three years, 1700 teachers from 61 regions of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Tajikistan were trained under the Center’s programs, emphasizes the report.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
“In the conditions of a forced full transition to “distant”, TSU is ready to share its experience with other universities. Along with this, Tomsk State University has undertaken the training of several thousand teachers. The work is being carried out within the framework of a network project to improve the qualifications of teachers and school leaders ... The training started in February 2020", - explains the press service.
Within the framework of the TSU project, about three thousand teachers and heads of schools in Tomsk and the region will be trained in online skills. In addition, university experts will help school teachers master the tools for working in a virtual classroom, the technology of building an online lesson, allocating time, designing assignments and assessment criteria, keeping students focused, and others.
“Today, TSU has formed six mobile groups of teachers who are ready to continue to help schools switch to “distant”, - emphasizes the report and adds that thanks to the experience gained by TSU in the field of distance learning for more than 20 years, the university can become one of the main platforms in Russia, on the basis of which the teachers of the Russian Federation will learn the methods of online learning in a short time.