CHATBOT TECHNOLOGY FOR SUPPORT LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Most countries in the world have experienced the shock of the first three months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown affected all economic realms, turned the usual mode of life upside down, taught everyone, without exception, to live in a new way. Surprisingly, many spheres of personal, social and professional life have not only been able to resist, but also to adapt to the new reality. It is fair to say that Higher Education (HE) has become one of those that the pandemic has had the greatest impact on a global scale. Moreover, HE has become one of those prepared to move most of its processes online. Due to the popularization and growth of the mobile device market, as well as the convenience of using modern messengers, communication between people has become easier. Distance learning presupposes fast and efficient information transfer and feedback. The use of chatbots these days is reflected in almost all spheres: from e-commerce to industry and education. In the study, we will highlight some important features in the chatbots use in the learning process, get acquainted with their applicativity in universities to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of their use, as well as to form general recommendations aimed at improving the effectiveness of their appliance in the learning process. Among other things, the article will consider the prospects and theoretical aspects of applicability and effectiveness of chatbots in the learning process, acting as a tool to improve the interaction between teachers and students in organizational and methodological issues. The purpose of the study is to assess the effectiveness of modern messengers and chatbots. The authors conclude that the chatbot is a useful tool in organizing the learning process, as well as interesting and convenient to use for both students and teachers. Besides, it caters to the needs of the younger generation who are gaining knowledge in the context of digitalization. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

METHODOLOGICAL BASES FOR DISTANCE COURSE DESIGN “PROFESSION-ORIENTED GERMAN”

The authors of the study describe the methodical and linguodidactic specifics of course design “Profession-oriented German” within the FL course for postgraduate engineering students. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that this course was designed jointly by teachers and students and was the result of distance work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that the communicative-activity approach in independent work has been transferred to the distance learning. The purpose of the research is to describe the internal structure of the course;show what professional, linguistic and speech competencies are formed with this distance course;do a pedagogical experiment demonstrating the course possibilities in the implementation of “Profession-oriented German” distance learning for postgraduate students;prove the innovativeness and productivity of the distance learning model in the Master's degree programme. The materials of the research are e-learning manuals, createded by the teachers of the department;the discipline work program;results of students’ questionnaire. Descriptive, project-based, comparative, and statistical methods are applied in the study. While doing the experiment, the innovation and productivity in the transformation of a classroom course into a distance one was proved, which are manifested in the following: 1) the ability to develop students’ professional, communicative and linguistic competencies;2) the development of students’ individual trajectory;3) expanding socio-cultural potential;4) the development of students’ intellectual potential;5) the intensification of the learning process. As a result of the experiment 1) the methodology and technique of using distance technologies in organizing the project activities for postgraduate students are described;2) an algorithm for constructing a distance course in linguistics in the Master's degree programme is designed 3) methodologies and techniques for the use of ITs in the formation of a new Russian university model is developed. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

PODCASTS AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING ENGLISH LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITIES

In 2020, the world was swept by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made significant changes to all areas of human activity, including the educational process. In many countries, including Russia, universities were transferred to distance learning, so teachers had to change the work format. The closing of educational institutions and their urgent transition to online training are fraught with obvious problems that pose a challenge to the entire education system. However, along with challenges and problems, the new learning format provides a wide range of opportunities and prospects for changing and improving education systems. Since it became impossible to give studies in classrooms, university teachers had to use original methods and principles to organize the learning process. One of the didactic principles in teaching is the principle of visibility and, in terms of the implementation of this principle, the Internet has extensive opportunities for teachers of foreign languages. Increasingly, the term “Web 2.0 technologies” appears in scientific and pedagogical literature. It is a complete rethink of building the learning process. There are many Web 2.0 platforms such as blogs, social bookmarking service, podcast, LearningApps, Mindmeister, Quizlet, etc. The purpose of the study is to consider the possibility of using such Web 2.0 technology as a podcast to develop listening and speaking skills in English. The urgency of this problem is due to the increased focus on the integration of computer technologies into pedagogical practice. The article provides “podcast” definition, describes classification, the linguodidactic potential, and the main characteristics of podcast as a method of foreign language teaching. The novelty of the work lies in the description of the experience in using podcasts in teaching English listening and speaking to students of Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University. The authors come to the conclusion that the informativeness of visual and oral series, the image dynamism, wide didactic possibilities, accessibility at a convenient for the user time, as well as ease of use, make podcasting promising in the practice of teaching foreign languages. Analysis, synthesis, and generalization methods are used in the research. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGIES IN TRAINING ESP FOR TECHNICAL STUDENTS

In modern conditions, when the whole world is faced with the coronavirus pandemic, digital educational technologies have become an effective way of organizing the learning process, which has forced all educational institutions to revise this process radically in many ways. Currently, there is an active process of informatization in the education field, aimed at the formation of an intellectually developed creative person, information-oriented, ready for self-development and application of these knowledge in future professional activities. Therefore, it is important for teachers to know what services and for what didactic purposes they can also use in their teaching practice when applying modern technologies. virtual reality and augmented reality are some of the emerging elements that can be used in the modern learning process, including foreign learning. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that the use of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies in foreign languages teaching is a relatively new direction in humanitarian knowledge, but, nevertheless, it is a rather interesting area for research. The purpose of the study is to show the advantages in using virtual reality and augmented reality technologies for the development of students’ professional foreign language competence. To solve the set purpose, the methods of description, analysis, and forecasting are used. The article deals with the main stages in the historical background and development of virtualistics;definitions to the basic concepts used in this area are given. The authors present virtual reality as a new technical means in FL learning, as well as analyze the benefits of introducing virtual reality and AR technologies into the teaching process. It is emphasized that virtual reality and augmented reality technologies make learning more visual, enable students to become more active, and involve them in the training process more fully. These technologies make it easier for people who are at a distance to work together. For example, students can meet using virtual reality tools, prepare joint presentations, lead projects, and do much other work almost as effectively as with face-to-face contact in the real world. As a result of the study, material was obtained, the analysis of which made it possible to conclude that now teachers, students and researchers are expected a decisive step to accept the advantages of virtual reality and augmented reality in foreign languages education, so that these breakthrough technologies can become a truly effective tool in foreign languages teaching for students of technical universities. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

DISTANCE LEARNING IN NMSTU UNDER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION ANALYSIS

The forced transition to learning with using online training technologies, which took place in the spring of 2020, generates a request for assessing the readiness of students and educational institutions in the higher education system to study in new conditions. The authors of the article describe the experience of a complete transition to a distance education format at Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University during the COVID-9 pandemic. The main issues that have arisen when organizing this form of training for engineering students are described. The authors also noted and characterized the positive and negative aspects of distance learning. The main goal of the study is to determine of NMSTU engineering students’ attitude to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization of distance learning in self-isolation, as well as the level of their digital literacy. A questionnaire, conducted among 786 first and second year engineering students became the research method. The analysis of the responses revealed, that students have good skills in working with modern technology, in the Internet, software, which contributes to quick adaptation to a new learning form. The vast majority of students have up-to-date information (obtained mainly from official sources) on the ways of spread and methods of preventing the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Most of the students are satisfied with the learning process in the distance mode;highly appreciate the educational content and its presentation by university teachers. Difficulties arising in the course of mastering educational programs in a new form are mainly associated with technical problems due to the high load on the university server. The conclusion is made about the possibility to use this form of education in the pandemic as a balanced alternative to traditional in-class education. Correctly selected course materials, based on the learning goals and objectives and the characteristics of the educational process in the online environment, provided the students with the educational process continuity, and the teachers –with positive feedback. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.

The moodle system in FL distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

At present, all over the globe, great changes are taking place in every area of life, which have affected the entire world population. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a sudden fitcheck not only for global health community: educational institutions almost all over the world were forced to switch to a new format of distance learning. Such a rapid transition to distance learning has become a difficult challenge for many universities. Difficulties and inconsistencies of both technical and psychological nature arose. Since there was not and there is no single scheme of distance learning in higher educational institutions, each university had to find its own answer to the urgent questions that arose. The article draws attention to the stability of higher education in the current situation. The transition to distance learning in universities did not catch the majority of teachers by surprise. In many universities there was a distance education system that successfully complemented the traditional classroom work, but did not replace it completely. The teachers were given the goal of implementing a continuous distance educational process in new conditions and the main task was to search for teaching technologies. The study deals with the immediate problem of using distance learning technologies and methods of their adaptation in relation to higher education. Particular attention is paid to the problems of a technical, organizational, psychological and everyday nature that arise during distance learning. The purpose of the article is to consider the means and opportunities offered by the Moodle distance learning system for the development and modernization of online courses for learning a foreign language at a technical university. It is concluded that despite the shortcomings of forced distance education, in a critical situation, temporary distance learning is an excellent alternative to traditional education. An effective tool for the development of distance courses is the Moodle system, since the courses based on the system contain a large amount of material, there is the possibility of switching between separate parts of the course, and there is often no need to go to third party sites to study the content. The Moodle platform is great for adapting e-learning courses to distance learning. The article used a set of theoretical and empirical research methods: theoretical analysis of literature on the topic, observation of the results of students' work in the electronic educational environment Moodle. © 2021, National Defence University - Carol I Printing House. All rights reserved.