Didactic aspects of distance learning in the conditions of pandemic and martial law

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Didactic aspects of distance learning in the conditions of pandemic and martial law

Olena Galushko Olena Galushko .Sc. (Economics), M.Sc. (Computer Sciences), Senior Lecturer (Prydneprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Dnipro, Ukraine), Yevheniia Kovalenko-Marchenkova Yevheniia Kovalenko- Marchenkova Ph.D. (Economics) Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, Dnipro, Ukraine)

Volodymyr Chistyakov Volodymyr Chistyakov Ph.D. (Technical Sciences), Associate Professor (Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies, Dnipro, Ukraine)

Анотація

Дидактичні аспекти дистанційного навчання в умовах пандемії та воєнного стану

Олена Галушко, Євгенія Коваленко-Марченкова, Володимир Чистяков

Стаття присвячена актуальним питанням підвищення ефективності навчального процесу у вищих учбових закладах в умовах пандемії та воєнного стану. Розглянуто еволюцію дистанційного навчання. Досліджено особливості дистанційної форми навчання, яка функціонує на основі сучасних психолого-педагогічних та інформаційно-комунікаційних технологій. Проаналізовано особливості організації навчального процесу у вищих учбових закладах в умах пандемії та воєнного стану, зокрема дидактичні аспекти навчального процесу в умовах небезпеки та підвищеного стресу.

Особливу увагу приділено психологічному стану студентів та шляхам зниження стресу та активізації їх уваги на навчальному процесі з урахуванням типів сприйняття інформації (аудіали, візуали, кінестетики, діджитали). Запропоновано шляхи удосконалення дистанційного навчального процесу в умовах пандемії та воєнного стану.

Ключові слова: дистанційне навчання, пандемія, воєнний стан, психологічний стан, тривожність, засвоєння знань, аудіали, візуали, кінестетики, діджитали.

Introduction

Relevance of the study. Education is one of the most important spheres of human activity, as it ensures the formation of the intellectual potential of society, and therefore the possibility of its' sustainable development.

The transition to the information society has created new opportunities for the development of education, and the level of development of information technologies in the state has become an important factor that determines the level of education and the availability of educational opportunities for all segments of the society.

Distance learning is associated with modern educational technologies, but its principles were laid in the middle of the 19^th century, when the so-called commercial "correspondence colleges" appeared in the USA, where educational letters between students and teachers were distributed through the postal service [1]. Today, thanks to the spread of the Internet and digital technologies, distance learning has gone beyond one-way communication and has become a full- fledged online education that allows you to implement all educational programs in an online format.

Under appropriate conditions, distance learning can ensure the availability of high- quality higher education to broad segments of the society, regardless of place of residence and working conditions; allows to respond flexibly to the demands of the labor market; to make fuller use of the educational, scientific and human resources potential of universities; saves financial resources.

Fundamental changes in the academic environment during the pandemic affected all areas of students' lives: educational (the need for a quick transition to online learning and adaptation to new methods of monitoring and evaluating knowledge, closing libraries, transforming communication channels with teachers), public (closing dormitories, restrictions communication with friends and colleagues, enforced self-isolation regime, travel ban) and personal (loss of job, worry about financial situation, future education and career) life of students.

These circumstances had a negative impact on the emotional condition of students and contributed to an increase in their level of anxiety.

In this context, the problem of self-control and internal motivation of the student becomes especially relevant.

Some students, due to personal characteristics and insufficient level of involvement in the educational process, need constant supervision by the lecturer, which is difficult to provide in a distance format. Students with a high level of internal motivation are more successful in mastering educational material in a distance format.

Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid transition to the distance learning format, which has become a serious challenge for the higher education sector due to its surprises. Digitization of higher education is a multifaceted process that affects all aspects of the academic environment and life spheres of modern students.

But after the pandemic, the year 2022 brought Ukraine new challenges in the form of an armed conflict, which has an extremely negative impact on the emotional state of teachers and students, on the assimilation of knowledge, and in general on the motivation to study.

Recent publications review. In Ukraine, the problems of distance education were the subject of scientific research by many scientists, such as: O. Anishchenko, O. Volyarska, V. Bykova, N. Muranova, N. Morse, O. Ogienko, K. Osadcha. In particular, among the trends in the development of distance education, Ukrainian scientists single out globalization, integration, internationalization, and informatization as general modern trends spreading throughout the world.

They consider the updating of the regulatory and legal provision of distance education, the regulatory and legal policy of providing distance learning and educational services and the practice of ensuring their quality to be purely national trends.

Attention is focused on the problem of developing digital competences of lecturers and technical support of universities [2-8].

The issue of the emotional state of students and their motivation for the educational process is also considered in many scientific works, but in our opinion, they require further development in view of the difficult conditions of the pandemic and martial law.

The article's objective is to analyze features of students' learning process in times of pandemic and war and to offer effective didactic approaches, which increase the efficiency of knowledge absorbing.

Discussion

Currently, distance education is undergoing rapid development. Many people around the world consider it as an alternative to full-time education when obtaining a second additional education, when improving their qualifications or when requalifying, and often even choose it as a way to obtain their first basic higher education. In confirmation of this, it should be mentioned that in August, 2005, a significant event took place in the world practice of the application of distance education - for the first time in the world, the number of distance learning students exceeded the number of students studying face-to-face. In particular, the number of students studying in open distance education programs amounted to 100 million people, while the number of "traditional" students at that time was approximately 97 million. Let's note that the opposition of face-to-face education and remote education is not quite correct, since the distance education is just a technology used in education. Current practice shows that many universities that offer their students the opportunity to study remotely, in case of successful completion of all stages of training, issue full-time diplomas to graduates. Today, in Ukrainian higher education, there is a tendency to reduce the number of classroom hours and increase the role of independent student work, which brings face-to-face education even closer to distance learning and stimulates the widespread use of distance learning technologies in the educational process [2, 3].

Due to the development of info-communication and computer technologies, it became possible to modernize traditional distance learning through the introduction of a distance learning system.

Almost all researchers (M. Moore, A. Bates, B. Holmberg, etc.) understand distance learning as a set of technologies that provide asynchronous or synchronous interactive interaction between students and teachers and are based on the principle of student self-learning. That is, distance learning requires a transition from the classical learning paradigm, when the future appears for the student in the form of abstract information applied in unknown real conditions, to a new paradigm that provides a continuous process of intellectual development and professional development of the individual. Research on the growing popularity of distance learning identifies four reasons for this [4-6]:

- No need to leave the place of residence, home, family, friends, work, as well as pay the related monetary expenses for travel, accommodation, etc.;

- This form of education is unique for cities remote from the central regions, where there are practically no other training opportunities. This factor also became crucial in times of pandemic and war, when travel opportunities are limited;

- Bright visualization and pronounced practical orientation of learning process. This is achieved by using the technical capabilities of organizing the presentations and lecture demonstrations. Also, students are given a greater choice in the sequence of studying subjects, a flexible learning pace, direct communication with a specific lecturer to whom they can ask any question;

- High mobility. World experience shows that distance learning is less conservative in relation to newly emerging areas of human activity than face-to-face.

Researchers also highlight the following features of distance learning [4-6]:

1. Flexibility. The student, in general, does not attend regular classes in the form of lectures and seminars. Everyone can study as much as it is necessary for him/her to gain the knowledge.

2. Modularity. The basis of distance learning programs is a modular principle. Each individual discipline or a number of disciplines are mastered to create a holistic view of a particular subject area. This allows students form a curriculum from a set of training courses that meets all needs individually.

3. Parallelism. Learning can be carried out while combining the main professional activity with study, that is, on the job.

4. Asynchrony. In the learning process, the lecturer and student can implement the learning technology independently in time, that is, according to a convenient schedule for each.

5. New information technologies. In distance learning, mainly new information technologies are used (computers, audio and video equipment, systems and means of telecommunications, etc.)

There are two different models of distance learning: American and Western European. The American model considers distance learning as a form of face-to-face learning, in which direct contact between the teacher and students is replaced by face-to-face telecommunications, i.e. education essentially remains traditional. The European distance learning model focuses primarily on independent learning. The required level of education in this case is provided by:

- specially designed educational and methodological kits for self-study of the course;

- organizing a system of psychological and pedagogical support for a student in the form of both group classes (tutorials) and individual consultations;

- a system of rating attestation and centralized monitoring of the quality of education.

Consequently, with distance learning, the ratio of independent and organized work of students in the educational process fundamentally changes. The share of individual work in distance learning is 70-90 % in the total volume of the discipline, while in face-to-face education it is only about 50 % [1, 4]. The COVID-19 pandemic has made a significant impact on education around the world. The Responses to Educational Disruption Survey found, that the pandemic has caused massive disruption to education systems, with schools and universities closed in many countries. educational distance pandemic war

The survey also found that there is a digital divide in access to educational resources, as many students do not have access to computers or Internet connections. To address these challenges, the authors recommend that governments prioritize access to educational resources and materials, and invest in teachers' and lecturers' training to ensure that they can use digital tools effectively. They also suggest that governments provide financial support to students and families coping with the pandemic and develop strategies to help students affected by school and universities closures.

In addition to the recommendations mentioned above, the authors also suggest that governments invest in supporting the mental health and well-being of students, teachers and families affected by the pandemic. This may include providing access to online counseling services and developing strategies to reduce stress and anxiety. In addition, governments should consider investing in innovative teaching and learning approaches, such as virtual classrooms and online learning platforms, to ensure that students can continue to access educational resources. Finally, the authors suggest that governments provide additional support to students who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, such as students from low-income families or those with disabilities [4].

Most of models of personality-developing learning technologies basically contain individual educational trajectories. In the context of distance learning, the construction and implementation of individual learning trajectories becomes especially relevant, since the student has maximum freedom of choice (number of courses, time and place of study, intensity of study, etc.), but as a rule, all researchers associate "individualization" with abilities, opportunities, motivation, goals of the student and do not take into account the peculiarities of the learning style. As practice shows, the previous school learning experience, based on the leading and guiding role of the teacher, greatly complicates the student's learning process at the university.

Remote students experience difficulties in adapting to completely new learning conditions, which will be overcome by building individual learning trajectories that take into account the individual characteristics, educational needs and learning styles of each student [5, 6]. In the distance learning system, the lecturer is primarily the organizer of learning. And here it is appropriate to talk about such a form of pedagogical support as tutoring. Unlike a traditional teacher, a tutor assists the student in independent solving the problem and provides support in the performance of research and design work, contributes to professional and personal self-determination. If the lecturer is mainly engaged in the reproduction of educational information, then the tutor provides pedagogical support to the students, taking into account their subjective experience. The process of forming a versatile and creative personality of a student is associated with the problem of finding new effective systems for teaching fundamental disciplines. One of the ways to solve this problem is to use methods of student-centered education [7-9].

Developed pedagogical technologies of student-centered education make adjustments to such learning parameters as target orientation, the nature and content of the interaction of the subjects in the learning process. Development of methodological principles of student-centered education based on the concept types of perception of the world, will increase the effectiveness of distance learning [10].

The concept of types of perception of the world arose as a basic component of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), and has recently become widespread as an independent direction. Within the framework of this concept, it is customary to distinguish four main types of people who have different channels of perception of the world (i.e., perceive the world around them differently): audials, visuals, kinesthetics and digitals. These types have significant differences in the organization of thinking and memory, which must be taken into account at the learning process [10].

Audials perceive information primarily by ear. Therefore, they are unusually sensitive to a variety of sounds. In order for an audials, to better remember the information, such students need not only to listen carefully to the lecture, but also to retell it on their own. The lecturer has to initiate the audial student to perceive information in a calm voice, correct and clear speech with logical intonations. Also lecturer have to listen carefully to the auditory and give students the opportunity to speak. Any external sounds or comments interrupt audial students from memorization of what they are listening or talking about. Since the audials perceives information by ear, they may ask the lecturer to repeat material that is incomprehensible to them, and in some cases even more than once.

Visual students are people who perceive most of the information with by the sight. They remember visual images well and usually have a good visual memory. In the process of understanding the material, visuals can write, draw, etc. It is important for a visual to see the interlocutor or educational material clearly. For a good understanding and memorization of the material, the teacher should widely use technical teaching aids: slides with graphs, tables, diagrams, etc.; lecture demonstrations, educational films. There are good storytellers among visual people, they know how to imagine a panorama of events and describe it, which sometimes distracts them from a clear and direct answer to the question.

Kinesthetic students differ in that when perceiving information, they want to physically feel the situation. Movement is very important in their lives, as they learn about the world around them through their senses. The more often the kinesthetician returns to the work he has already done, the better he does it. For effective assimilation of the material, it is desirable to provide kinesthetic students with individual handouts, which is impossible in distance learning conditions. Also, it is desirable for a kinesthetic student to take notes of the lectures in his own hand. Kinesthetics rarely plan their activities, so the teacher should help the kinesthetic student in organizing his learning process.

Digital students are a unique type of people who are focused on the meaning, content, importance and functionality of the received information. The digital channel is a special way of perceiving the world, its representation and understanding. For digital people, what is written or spoken is reality itself. At the same time, they know how to act calmly in difficult situations, to be pragmatic and scrupulous. For the digital student, the lecturer has to recommend working with textbooks, instructions, and teaching aids as much as possible.

Studies have shown that our society is dominated by kinesthetics and visuals, while audials are in the minority. According to various estimates, the share of kinesthetics is 35-40 %, the share of visuals is 30-35 %, the share of digital is 20-25 %, and the share of audials is about 5-10 % [10]. It should be noted that people using the one channel are extremely rare. As a rule, each person combines several types of perception of the world, while one channel is the leading one and is most oftenly used both consciously and unconsciously. The leading type of perception also forms a generalized type of personality. To introduce the proposed concept into the educational process, we recommend testing students to identify generalized types of perception of the world. Similar tests have been developed by psychologists and NLP specialists and can be found in the relevant literature. Having received data on the majority of students of one type or another in a group, the lecturer will be able to choose the most effective methods for this group learning.

Based on the types of perception of the world described above, the following recommendations can be made to reduce the level of anxiety of students in distance learning in a pandemic and hostilities. Visuals are in the most comfortable position, because distance learning allows much more use of high-quality and interesting visual information. To reduce the stress of visuals, lecturer can use screensavers with beautiful, calming landscapes before starting to study. Audials can also comfortably perceive information in distance learning. To reduce the stress of such students, the lecturer can use a calm, confident voice, friendly intonations. Digitals are also able to easily switch to distance learning.

To reduce stress, they need to be captivated by interesting, innovative learning material. Kinesthetic students experience the greatest difficulty in the transition to distance learning in conditions of increased stress, because their main needs (movement and physical contact with the outside world) are limited. Such students are encouraged to do sports more actively (at least at home) and walk more in the open air. The lecturer could help kinestetics students with an open and friendly attitude, as well as with coaching and helping in planning their time.

Conclusions

Orientation of the lecturer to the types of perception of the world by students solves two major problems. First of all, it improves students' understanding and memorization of the learned material and, thus, increases the efficiency of the educational process as a whole. In addition, interaction with students, taking into account their individual characteristics of the perception of the world, disposes students to the lecturer, increases his/her authority and allows more effectively direct the learning process and students' group activities.

The ways of increasing the distance learning process include:

1. Incorporate more interactive activities into online learning. This could include activities such as virtual breakout rooms, online quizzes, and collaborative projects.

2. Utilize positive reinforcement to motivate students. This could include providing rewards for completing tasks or making progress in their studies.

3. Encourage students to take breaks and practice self-care. This could include setting aside time for physical activity, relaxation techniques, or engaging in hobbies that they enjoy.

4. Provide students with access to mental health resources, such as counseling or therapy.

5. Encourage social connection and communication among students, even if it is online. This could include setting up virtual study groups or having regular check-ins with peers or instructors.

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Abstract

The article deals with the topical issues of improving the effectiveness of the educational process in higher educational institutions in the conditions of a pandemic and martial law. The evolution of distance learning is considered. Peculiarities of the remote form of education, which functions on the basis of modern psychological and pedagogical and information and communication technologies, have been studied. The peculiarities of the organization of the educational process in higher educational institutions in the context of the pandemic and martial law were analyzed, in particular didactic aspects of the educational process in conditions of danger and increased stress.

Special attention is paid to the psychological state of students and ways of reducing stress and activating their attention on the educational process, taking into account the types of information perception (audio, visual, kinesthetic, digital). Ways to improve the distance learning process in the conditions of a pandemic and martial law are proposed.

Keywords: distance learning, pandemic, martial law, psychological state, anxiety, learning, audio, visual, kinesthetic, digital.

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