TOMSK, Nov 29 – RIA Tomsk. Spaces of informal learning will be equipped in remote buildings of Tomsk State University (TSU) by the beginning of the next semester, Director of the TSU Institute of Distance Education Mikhail Shepel told RIA Tomsk; some of them - for example, the SPTI building on Yuzhnaya Square - may have round-the-clock access.
Earlier it was reported that due to the threat of the spread of COVID-19 TSU switched to a distance learning format and so ended the semester. From the beginning of the new academic year, students study in a "mixed" format - part of the classes are conducted remotely, part - in intramural form of education.
“After conducting research (on the impact of the pandemic on students), we found out that the situation of total "distant" led to the fact that the boundaries between academic and social life were blurred. Hence, there was a demand for places for informal learning - where you can communicate, eat, study in a group or separately. There was a powerful request for the transformation of the physical space of the university", - Shepel said.
© РИА Томск. Серафима Кузина
He said that following the results of the study, the Rector of TSU Eduard Galazhinsky instructed to organize such spaces throughout the campus in dormitories as soon as possible by the beginning of the next semester. Remote buildings will be equipped with such "informal" learning spaces.
Shepel cited Research Library of Tomsk State University as an example: "The library today is a good modern space on the central campus, equipped with individual booths, booths for group work, common space, coworking space. There is an accessible Wi-Fi, food outlets".
According to the interlocutor, such spaces should be located in an area of high student traffic, for example, in the TSU Center of Culture. "Somewhere it is necessary to install stationary computers - not all students have a good laptop. Somewhere - to equip places to work with their laptop", - Shepel said.
Among the priorities, he named the building of the radiophysical faculty and the 11th building on Yuzhnaya Square: "There are excellent rooms. In the future, we will make the first floor round-the-clock, so that students from dormitories have access 24/7. The chemical building on Arkady Ivanov Street is also remote, and there is already an understanding of how to rebuild it (to suit the needs of students)".