Organization of distance and blended learning of mathematics for senior pupils at school during quarantine

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Volodymyr Vynnychenko central Ukrainian state pedagogical university

MI "Scientific Lyceum of the City Council of Kropyvnytskyi"

ORGANIZATION OF DISTANCE AND BLENDED LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS FOR SENIOR PUPILS AT SCHOOL DURING QUARANTINE

Yu.V. Botuzova Doctor of Sciences (Pedagogy), Docent

A.A. Novikova Candidate of

Pedagogical Sciences (PhD in Pedagogy)

Kropyvnytskyi

Annotation

distance learning mathematics pupil

The article deals with the problems of organization of the distance learning of mathematics for senior pupils at Ukrainian schools during quarantine. The authors, based on their own pedagogical experience, describe the peculiarities of distance learning in mathematics. They also indicate the types of work that were carried out with the pupils. In the article feedback results, which helped to conduct analysis and further improvement and adaptation of methodological approaches to the conditions of distance learning, are given. In particular, the materials of the author's questionnaire for pupils were processed and the results of several all-Ukrainian monitoring of schoolchildren's participation in various forms of distance learning during quarantine were studied. Foreign experience is also considered. This made it possible to obtain information about the advantages and disadvantages of the organization of distance learning of mathematics and to improve the educational process in 2020-2021 academic year, which was held in a blended mode.

A comparison of the approaches, forms, means and methods of training that have been used since the beginning of the distance education throughout the country (March 2020) and until now has been made. It is clearly demonstrated how the process of improving the educational process took place and the role of conducted surveys and monitoring in this process: the transition from Viber groups for individual classes to the creation of a school-wide distance learning system using Google for Education tools and the Edyna Shkola electronic journaling system.

The functionality of the distance learning platform Google Classroom was analyzed, and a conclusion was drawn about its effectiveness. The functionality of the Edyna Shkola system and the opportunities it provides to the school administration, teachers, pupils, and parents are considered. After reviewing the two platforms, it was concluded that Edyna Shkola system is focused on the interaction between the teachers, pupils and parents, where the main emphasis is shifted to monitoring the individual pupil's performance. At the same time, Google Classroom has a powerful functionality for providing a digital educational environment of an educational institution.

Key words: distance learning, blended learning, mathematics, reflection, Google Classroom, Edyna Shkola.

Introduction to the issue

Quarantine restrictions in connection with the rapid and dangerous spread of the Covid-19 forced a change in the approaches to the organization of education in all educational institutions of our country and the world. In particular, the resolution of the Government of Ukraine No. 211 dated March 11, 2020 [4] was issued, in which it was forbidden to visit educational institutions by its students, starting from March 12, 2020. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine sent letter No. 1/9-154 dated March 11, 2020, to all educational institutions [2]. In the letter, it was recommended to develop measures to ensure distance educational process and the partial transfer of teachers to work in a remote mode. Therefore, each school, based on its own capabilities and needs, decided how to organize the distance educational process.

Current state of the issue

Distance learning is not a completely new form of education. Currently, there is a sufficient number of scientific and methodical research, in particular, Ukrainian scientists on this issue: Yu. Bykov, Yu. Bogachkov, Yu. Botuzova, D. Vasylieva, V. Kuharenko, N. Morse, Yu. Pasikhov, O. Slobodyaniuk, I. Smalyuk, P. Stefanenko, O. Khmel and others. But the organization of distance learning in emergency conditions has created a number of challenges for the whole education system. Thus, in the methodical recommendations for the organization of the distance educational process in schools [3: 6-7], a list of the main problems related to this is given:

• pupils' motivation for distance learning;

• the ability of pupils to self- educate, because it is the basis of distance learning (although most pupils, especially younger grades, are not ready for independent educational activities);

• organization of communication in the learning process - verbal and nonverbal, synchronous and asynchronous;

• individualization of training, which is one of the main advantages and principles of distance learning;

• the appropriate level of teachers' skills in using digital educational technologies;

• the need to identify pupils and the possibility of falsifying the results of completing the educational tasks;

• a clear time schedule for conducting online lessons and for independent work of pupils;

• lack of a single unified electronic platform for training.

In the process of acquiring new professional experience by educators in the conditions of distance and blended learning for almost two years, some of the above-mentioned problems began to be gradually solved.

Aim of research: in the presented article, we intend to share the generalized experience of distance and blended learning of mathematics in the Communal Institution "Scientific Lyceum” of the Kropyvnytskyi City Council. This lyceum is one of the largest in the Kirovohrad region and is unique in its structure, teaching staff, and approach to student selection.

Results and discussion

From the first days of the quarantine restrictions, the administration of the "Scientific Lyceum" decided and announced to the participants of the educational process that the schedule of all classes remains unchanged, but training will take place remotely.

Active interaction of all participants in the educational process is a condition for the successful functioning of the educational space. In the distance learning, this interaction becomes remote, but no less important. Therefore, to organize communication, Viber groups were created for each class, which united all pupils and teachers, as well as the administration of the Lyceum. The administration monitored compliance with the schedule of the educational process. Each teacher had the opportunity to choose the format of conducting lesson (in asynchronous or online mode).

Studying mathematics remotely is not an easy task for both pupils and teachers. The first weeks of distance learning showed that studying this school subject requires a special approach. Therefore, in addition to the Viber group organized by the Lyceum, the teachers created their own blogs in which tables with the lesson schedule and hyperlinks to each lesson were posted. The need for this was caused by the fact that not all pupils completed the tasks on time, so later they could not find them among the messages that accumulated in the Viber group. In addition, if a pupil was absent from an online lesson, it made possible to share a video recording of the lesson without sending it to the corporate group.

The problem of emergency distance learning was faced by all schools of Ukraine. All teachers actively used the Internet and television to achieve the expected learning outcomes of the mathematics curriculum. The need to implement distance learning of mathematics revealed the problem of insufficient readiness for it of both the pupils and their teachers. In addition, the main problem was psychological unreadiness for such training, and not the lack of digital competence of teachers and pupils [7].

Of course, during the quarantine (from March to June 2020), we had to experiment, select methods, approaches to presenting theoretical and practical educational material. Among the types of work that were applied, we can mention: conducting online classes using Zoom and Google Meet services, selecting educational video materials for pupils to watch on YouTube, creating training interactive lessons in Google forms and interactive worksheets in the Wiser.me, carrying out test control and independent work in online mode on the platforms "Na Urok", "Vseosvita", "ClassTime", as well as the use of tests created on the above-mentioned platforms in asynchronous mode as homework for pupils.

Second academic semester of 20192020 academic year ended remotely. Unfortunately, it was clear that distance learning will become the main form of organization of the educational process in the next few years. Therefore, the teachers should analyze the work experience gained in new conditions for them, reflect and get feedback from the pupils. This would make it possible to avoid mistakes, get rid of shortcomings and organize the distance learning with greater efficiency in the future.

To receive feedback, we created an anonymous survey on the "Vseosvita" platform, which collected information about the organization the distance learning of mathematics in the "Scientific Lyceum". In the appeal to the pupils, we asked them to answer frankly, without specifying their names, and noted that their opinion is important for us and will allow us to improve the distance educational process in the future. 50 respondents (9th and 10th grades pupils) took part in the survey. Here are some results of it.

Regarding the form of conducting lessons (asynchronous/synchronous), pupils' opinions were almost equally divided: 52% of respondents preferred online lessons according to a set schedule, while 48% preferred independent viewing of video lessons at any time.

As for the means of presenting educational material, 60% of pupils claimed that theoretical material is perceived better when it is in video format, 36% preferred presentation slides and only 4% - a textbook.

56% of the respondents liked the author's experimental development of interactive simulator lessons, where the explanation of the problem is, but the students have to complete a certain part of the solution on their own, 16% did not like this form of work, the remaining 28% could not decide.

Mathematics test tasks were offered to students on different platforms, so it was important to find out their opinion about convenience and preferences: Google forms (48%), "Na Urok" (26%), ClassTime (19%), "Vseosvita" (7%).

To the question "Did you like distance learning?" 55% of pupils answered affirmatively, others (45%) would like to work in the classroom.

To the open question: "What did you like or dislike the most during distance learning?", - pupils most often attributed the possibility of staying at home in comfortable conditions, the absence of the need to get to the place of study, and online conferences as positive moments. Among the negative impressions, pupils mentioned a significant number of tasks that should be worked out independently, the difficulty of perceiving educational material remotely, interruptions with the Internet connection.

A few useful suggestions were received from pupils on questions regarding the improvement of distance learning. In particular, it was proposed to: provide an electronic journal of pupils' educational achievements which pupils could review; create a blog- schedules of lessons for each classes, which would make it easier to orient pupils in the tasks that need to be completed; use an online blackboard in all online classes.

We also studied the results of several monitoring of schoolchildren's participation in various forms of distance learning during quarantine, in particular, considering the place of residence. For example, the study [1] shows the results of a survey of more than two thousand students of 1st-11th grades, who noted that they most often working offline independently (45.4%), often have online lessons with their teacher (48.2%), receive tasks from the teacher in social networks (36%). At the same time, there is a growing trend in the number of pupils attending online classes on a permanent basis, depending on the place of residence: in large cities with a population of 500 000 or more - 60.4%; in cities with a population of 100 000 to 499 000 - 38.5%; in settlements with 10 000 to 99 000 inhabitants - 28.9%; in smaller settlements, this percentage varies from 10% to 20%. Of course, this is related to the material and technical support of schools, teachers and pupils, as well as access to high-quality and relatively inexpensive Internet connection. At the same time, pupils from rural areas noted that they communicate with teachers and receive tasks from them in social networks and messengers (Viber, Telegram,

WhatsApp), and most of them are senior pupils (46.7% - 10-11th grades, 35.4% - grades 5-9). We agree with the authors of the study that this format of distance learning requires students to constantly study subjects independently and can lead to rapid fatigue, decreased interest, and the appearance of psycho-emotional children's problems.

Along with the interviewing of pupils, it is also necessary to survey teachers, as the main participants in the educational process. Therefore, we also studied the results of a corresponding interviewing of mathematics teachers from different regions of Ukraine. This research was conducted by employees of the Department of Mathematics and Informatics Education of the Institute of Pedagogy of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine [6]. The monitoring was carried out to find out the specifics of the organization of distance learning of mathematics and the main problems that teachers faced during the long-term quarantine.

Note that the teachers who participated in the survey had free access to the Internet, which could have influenced the results. 79,3% of teachers answered that they conducted online lessons. The most popular service for conducting online lessons among teachers was Zoom, Skype and Google Meet took the second and third positions, respectively. Let's note the main problem that almost all teachers have - the pupils' cameras are turned off, which deprives of real eye contact. According to psychologists, this interferes with receiving full feedback in "teacher- pupil", "teacher-pupils", "pupil-pupil" systems.

According to the teachers, the distance online lesson lasted at least 40 minutes in 42,1% of respondents; 30-35 min. - 17,6%; more than 50 min. - 10,4%. At the same time, the weekly workload decreased for 54,5% of the surveyed teachers, and remained unchanged for 26,5%. In addition, teachers began to spend significantly more time preparing for lessons, as indicated by 76,5% (the time spent preparing lessons did not change in 10,7% of our colleagues).

Departments of education recommend that teachers give part of the educational material for independent study by pupils. At the same time, it is recommended to determine the level of understanding and assimilation of the educational material using special tests. Under such conditions, it is considered pedagogically appropriate to use the technology of "Flipped Classroom", when online meetings become more consultative, at them teachers help pupils deal with tasks of an increased level of complexity or explain unclear points. Of course, the use of such technology requires students to be ready to independently study theoretical material (reading a textbook or watching video lectures, taking notes).

Among the popular platforms adapted to distance learning, the educational platforms "Na Urok" (63.6%), "Vseosvita" (44.3%), and LearningApps (25.1%) prevail. On these platforms, you can find the necessary content for a lesson, create a test or use material already created by colleagues.

The issue of writing independent and control papers by pupils during distance learning is relevant. This is related to several problems with academic integrity and properly evaluating student works: 52.9% of mathematics teachers reported that they created tests and limited the time for their completion; 22.2% - required students to work online; the rest teachers checked the tasks of the completed works from the photos sent by the students.

Among the positive aspects of distance learning, teachers note that they were able to master new forms of work (92%), increase the level of computer literacy (68%), and improve the atmosphere in the classroom (11%).

There also were many difficulties during distance learning. It should be noted that there are problems with the technical equipment of both pupils and teachers; lack of a formula editor in many services for creating tests; complicated verification of works in the photo; lack of free time to create your own high-quality content; lack of emotional contact.

Regarding the last two difficulties indicated above, we have feedback from colleagues. They note that the using of messengers during distance learning completely deprived them the opportunity to rest and have free time from work, because of receiving messages from pupils around the clock with completed tasks or questions. That, accordingly, led to increased stress and tension, emotional burnout, apathy.

Therefore, in our opinion, it is important to organize psychological support for teachers on the basis of school in which they work, for example, conducting psychological trainings or establishing schedules for personal communication with a psychologist.

In addition, distance learning reduces the physical activity of both pupils and teachers, which leads to rapid fatigue and reducing work capacity. In order to avoid such situations, the Sanitary Regulation for schools [5] was introduced, which defines the duration of online classes for pupils of different age categories. For senior pupils, the duration of online-classes should last up to 30 minutes in the 1st hour of classes, 20 minutes in the 2nd hour of classes, and in the case of double lessons for pupils - no more than 25-30 min. at the first lesson and no more than 15-20 minutes in the second. It is required to do physical exercises and gymnastics for the eyes after online-classes. At the same time, we understand that it is very difficult to achieve the expected learning results for such a duration of the study session, especially in mathematics.

The results of the recently conducted international assessment PISA 2018 showed that 36% of Ukrainian students could not reach the basic level of mathematical literacy. According to the findings of the PISA, each additional hour of studying a subject increases the average score of students in the country by about 10 points. Therefore, the analysis of the obtained results in Ukraine indicates the need to increase the number of hours of studying mathematics in secondary school to at least 5-6 hours per week. After all, according to the survey of teachers, only 79,1% of them have fully completed the curriculum, while only 51,6% of teachers had time to repeat with pupils what they have learned.

The results of interviewing pupils and teachers helped to understand the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning mathematics organization and to improve the educational process in 2020-2021 academic year, which took place in a blended mode.

It is also worth considering the foreign experience. For example, in Italy, in the first wave of quarantine, there was a transition to online education, even in primary school. Lessons were held according to the schedule. Although schools in Italy also had problems with technical equipment, in the north of the country computers and Internet connections are better than in the south. To solve these problems working groups were created. They visited educational institutions in different regions of Italy to teach teachers how to work remotely.

After the spring lockdown of 2021, the Minister of Education of Sweden noted that pupils lose motivation by studying remotely, so it is necessary to return to their desks. In Germany, some schools have experimented with different tools for digital learning, for example: they planned to start the day with a "digital morning circle" - a video conference with teachers and their pupils, and during breaks to arrange individual online meetings between the teacher and the pupil to discuss results and problems. Also, schoolchildren were involved to participate in joint projects through special applications after lessons.

The quarantine involves a minimum of contacts between people, the emphasis is on online communication and the transition to electronic exchange of documentation. Teachers found themselves in a digital environment with new rules of behavior in it. Digital educational environment is an open set of information systems designed to provide various tasks of the educational process. It involves the use of educational platforms for the purpose of obtaining quality education. Google for Education has all the possibilities for creating such a digital educational environment of an educational institution.

On its basis, personal educational courses of teachers are combined into a single structure, in which the process of studying disciplines is managed. Among the main advantages of the platform, we can highlight: obtaining an own domain for the institution, which ensures data

Steps in the development process for the Google Classroom course

confidentiality and guarantees spam filtering; the possibility of mobile learning; work in the file sharing system; provision of a larger amount of memory for saving educational materials; possibilities of integration with other programs; ensuring cyber security.

Distance learning support platforms are used in two aspects: management of learning content and learning process. With the help of such platforms, pupils or students can remotely: use the educational material offered in the various form (text, video, audio material, presentation, interactive model, poster); pass the test and be evaluated accordingly. So, it is necessary to determine under what conditions, methods and ICT means the remote technologies will be more effective.

Google Classroom was chosen as a platform for distance learning for organization the educational process in 2020-2021 academic year at "Scientific Lyceum”. This resource makes it possible to: invite students to the course, support communication between the teacher and the pupils, access of students to the educational material at any time and regardless of the distance between the participants of the educational process; provide the possibility of mobile learning; evaluate and analyze individual student results. At the same time, this resource is not technically complex, it provides opportunities for the teacher's creativity and orderliness of the educational process. An approximate step-by-step course development algorithm on the Google Classroom platform is presented in Table 1.

Fig. 1 Task on the Google Classroom platform