Proceedings of the Second International Conference
«Digital Education. 21st Century» held on 20-21 October 2020
in an online format.

watch the video broadcast
languagеs: Russian, English
simultaneous interpretation from Russian to English: yes

Moderators:
archpriest Gennady Egorov, PhD, Director of Distance Learning Institute at St. Tikhon's Orthodox University, Moscow, Russia;
Prof. Jennifer Roberts, D. Litt et Phil, Associate Professor in College of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

Distance learning technology is one of the areas of modern education where, due to the introduction of digital technologies, changes are occurring at so swift a rate and the impact of communication, i.e. the ways and content of interaction between participants in the educational process, is becoming increasingly evident. Academic research on online education fails to keep pace with the speed of implementation of new approaches and tools, and practitioners lack the time to present their experience to the professional community. This year's stampede toward distance learning once again showed both the critical role of pedagogical communication in the educational process and its special features, which require different skills and tools than face-to-face learning.

This year, the conference will be held online. Papers and presentations will be published in advance on the conference website. A link to the broadcast will be sent to registered participants before the conference starts. Restrictions on technology do not allow for equal participation in the discussion, as is customary for our section. Therefore, the main discussion of the topic will be held among the speakers. Other participants may submit their questions through the moderator via chat.


Participants:

Prof. Jennifer Roberts, D. Litt et Phil, Associate Professor in College of Education, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
Academic research in ODL and online learning in Russia.
presentation
The purpose of academic research is to seek the truth and new knowledge which enhances social development. Such research is one of the integral responsibilities of a faculty member working in an academic institution. It is one of the key aspects of their job performance (Ho, 2014). The foundation for academic research should be to support teaching and learning and each one should influence the other i.e. research should inform teaching practice while at the same time novel teaching practice needs to be scientifically researched to verify the process, and act as the conduit for disseminating this new knowledge to other practitioners via publication in research journals, books chapter conference proceedings etc. This article investigates research written by Russian academic authors that has been published in Scopus recommended journals and to examine the similarities and/or differences to the research of South African authors. Using the keywords, Open Distance Learning (ODL), online learning, e-learning and distance education, a search was conducted on the Scopus database to identify the research levels of the articles (according to the ODL research level framework of Zawacki-Richter), the themes, trends and authorship details. This analysis was then compared to trends in South Africa as well as international trends. Content analysis was used to analyse the articles and the results are presented in the form of descriptive statistics (tables and graphs) as well as the emerging themes and trends. The results indicate that both Russia and South African publication are heavily weighted to the micro level of research and that very few articles from Russia have been published in the recognised international distance education journals.


Dr. Lisa Marie Blaschke, Program Director, Management of Technology Enhanced Learning Center for Lifelong Learning, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg,Germany.
Promoting development of self-determined learning skills in learner.
presentation
Lifelong learning skills can be nurtured through the use of self-directed learning (SDL) and self-determined learning (SDeL) approaches. SDL and SDeL both promote learner responsibility and agency in deciding what will be learned and how, while helping the learner understand how to learn. In shifting learning control from instructor to student, the instructor role is not diminished but rather enhanced. This paper describes SDL and SDeL, the pedagogy-andragogy-heutagogy (PAH) continuum, and the instructor role, as well as instructional methods for developing lifelong learning skills.


Aras Bozkurt, PhD, Associate Professor of Distance Education at Anadolu University, Open Education Faculty, Eskişehir, Turkey.
Communication, interaction, and motivation: Following theoretical footprints of distance education.
presentation
This report revisits theoretical and conceptual lenses of distance education in order to identify the current state of the art and explore what do we have and then what do we need to provide meaningful learning experiences. The paper argues that the knowledge and experiences gained in the field of distance education provide working solutions and clear walkthroughs to design learning spaces where learners can build a learning community, start a journey with a high intrinsic motivation, then interact, and communicate to intellectually grow.


Maria Lebedeva, PhD, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Moscow, Russia.
The experience of emergency remote education from the view of educational communication.
presentation
This report examines the specific aspects of educational communication during distance learning amid COVID-19 pandemic. The research carried out in the article is based on the communication model of R. Jacobson. It is noted that transitioning learning to a digital environment changes such communication factors as context, code and contact. Analysis of these changes allows us to interpret some of online learning features and limitations identified during the period of remote education as well as to propose some compensatory mechanisms and strategies for educational communication in a digital environment.

Alexander Laryanovskiy, Managing Partner & CBDO in online english school Skyeng, Moscow, Russia.
Experience of mass training of teachers to work with feedback during the educational process.
Private education business is a business related to working with student's motivation. The progress in education depends on it: whatever lesson you have created, whatever teacher you have hired, all of this would not matter if the student doesn't want to attend the class. In modern pedagogical systems, teachers are not taught to work with motivation, that's why Skyeng has built its own retraining system, where more than 10,000 teachers are being taught simultaneously.


Dr. Mark Brown, professor, Chair in Digital Learning & Director of the National Institute for Digital Learning — ‎Dublin City University, Ireland.
Unboxing Online Teaching: What Works and Why?
presentation
In seeking to harness the potential of new digital technologies for teaching and learning this presentation explores the questions of what works and why? It endeavours to unbox what we know about the effective use of educational technology, with a particular emphasis on engaging students in active models of online learning. The importance of designing for communication and interactivity as opposed to delivering content is illustrated through several innovative examples.