Pedagogical conditions for the implementation of distance learning (using the example of online platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams)

The term "distance learning" (hereinafter referred to as "distance learning") has become entrenched in scientific theory and practice and is used in two meanings: in a broader context as a purposeful process of interactive interaction of teachers and students with each other and with learning tools, invariant to their location in space and time, which is implemented in a specific didactic system and in a narrower meaning as the interaction of the teacher and students with each other at a distance, reflecting all the components inherent in the educational process (goals, content, methods, organizational forms, learning tools) and implemented by specific means of Internet technologies ^{[1, 6]}. Recently, a number of works by domestic and foreign scientists have been published on rethinking distance learning, its methodological provisions, terminology, problems of organizing distance learning at school and university ^{[1,2,3,5,7,8,9,10, etc.]}. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, education using distance education technologies has been implemented in educational institutions of the country.

                       In order to determine the optimal pedagogical conditions for the organization of distance learning in foreign languages within the framework of the study, we conducted a written survey in the form of a questionnaire among linguistic students of Buryat State University, which was attended by 41 people. These are full-time students of the Linguistics department, the profile "Translation and Translation Studies". The purpose of this survey was to identify the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning technologies in teaching foreign languages by students acting as the central subject of the pedagogical process.

The questionnaire was anonymous, in the introductory part of the questionnaire, students indicated only the course of study. The students were offered both closed (choice of an option/answer options) and open questions in the questionnaire, requiring respondents to formulate a short answer independently.

           Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the survey results showed that one of the most common platforms on which distance learning of foreign languages was carried out during the pandemic was the cloud program for audio and video conferencing ZOOM. For example, 61% of the students had practical language classes that provided for the use of ZOOM video communication in real time.  In addition, 38% of respondents noted that in parallel, control by teachers took place on the basis of the Moodle system in offline mode. 32% of students also identified the Discord messenger with support for free IP telephony and video conferencing as a learning platform. It should be noted here that Moodle as a learning management system has been used at the university for more than 10 years, teachers have developed and tested electronic courses on the practical course of the first and second foreign languages, while the advantages of the Discord program, originally developed for the communication of gamers, were revealed in the process of forced distance learning. Another new platform for organizing distance learning was the Microsoft Teams corporate platform, which was used by 30% of respondents. In addition to these platforms used to organize the learning process, students named social networks and messengers that were used to interact with each other and with teachers: VKontakte (40%), Viber (29%), Skype (4%).

           As for the question of the advantages of distance learning, the students noted the availability of Internet platforms during the crisis period. In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, in which many countries are still today, online platforms have been and remain one of the most important means of organizing the learning process. At the same time, 51% of students named savings in money and time, convenience of learning (47% of respondents), distance learning (36% of students). The students justified the savings of money and time as follows: the learning process, organized in a distance format, allows you not to waste time and money on a trip to the place of study and back, in addition, there are no costs for meals in public places during study. It is noteworthy that under the convenience of learning, students understand, on the one hand, immediate comfort:  study at a convenient time, without leaving home, sitting at a table in your room. During quarantine  UP allowed nonresident students to go home and not interrupt the learning process.   On the other hand, comfort was provided by the availability of educational information.  Thus, 27% of the surveyed students identified as an advantage the possibility of rapid exchange of information in the classroom, we are talking about text files, texts for listening, videos as a support for the subsequent development of monological or dialogical skills.   Using authentic materials, performing interactive tasks, listening to podcasts, watching videos, listening to news reports during online classes, 14% of students attributed to the advantages of distance learning.  In addition, students noted the ability to store educational materials in computer memory, and then edit it, process it, print it out. In addition, a number of students (12%) attributed the participation of native speakers to the advantages: teachers had the opportunity to involve foreign partners in the educational process when organizing an educational translation conference, final classes on a specific topic in a foreign language, conducting online competitions, scientific and practical seminars and master classes.

           The survey results also indicate the disadvantages of distance learning. Thus, 39% of respondents indicated insufficient technical equipment on the part of students, the lack of necessary equipment. In this regard, the quality of the DO directly depends on the technical equipment of the equipment and the Internet connection.  Since distance learning covers all disciplines, students are overloaded with various kinds of information, which creates some difficulties. Information overload and a large volume of tasks in the process were mentioned by 56% of students.  Further, we note that for 28%, the disadvantage was the lack of direct contact with teachers and with each other, since active interaction is one of the prerequisites for successful mastery of a foreign language. According to the students, interaction via video communication will not replace live communication. Participants of online training cannot see and feel the emotions and mood of the students, their facial expressions and gestures. At the same time, we agree with the point of view of E.S. Polat that with such communication, students are not burdened by the fact of pressure on them by the authority of a partner with a more developed intellect (teacher) and can not hesitate to ask again, make mistakes, which positively affects the motivational side ^[6].

            In addition, 27% of students noted the negative impact of a smartphone or computer screen on vision, on health in general, since digital technologies were used not only in online classes, but also when doing homework. 22% of the respondents were not satisfied with the quality of the control of knowledge acquisition, one of the reasons was the high occupancy of the groups. In other words, the disadvantages of the DO also include the difficulties of objective assessment of foreign language skills and abilities of students.

           The survey made it possible to identify the main advantages and disadvantages of distance learning at the moment on the part of the main subjects of the pedagogical process. The analysis of scientific literature, taking into account the totality of the above features of the phenomenon under study, own pedagogical experience in the implementation of DO, allow us to formulate pedagogical conditions for the implementation of distance learning in foreign languages using online platforms.

It should be noted that the concept of "pedagogical conditions" includes, on the one hand, a set of purposefully constructed measures of influence and interaction of subjects of education (such as the content, methods, techniques and forms of education and upbringing, as well as software and methodological equipment of the educational process); and on the other hand, the material and spatial environment (educational and technical equipment) ^[5].  Based on this, it follows that in the process of organizing pre-school education, it is necessary to create such conditions under which the goals of teaching foreign languages at linguistic faculties are achieved. In the broadest sense, the purpose of teaching foreign languages is the formation of foreign language communicative competence. In relation to a language university/ faculty, the goal is to provide training for a specialist who is fluent in a foreign language as a means of intercultural communication and as a means of carrying out professional activity of a linguist capable of autonomous professional development, possessing high competence in various areas of his professional activity, characterized by a high cultural level and a broad outlook.

           In accordance with this, the first pedagogical condition is to ensure the continuity of teaching all types of foreign language speech activity in the pre-school process. Speech activity involves communication. Let's consider the didactic capabilities of the Zoom and Microsoft Teams platforms for this. Note that, first of all, the Zoom cloud program allows you to organize an online lesson: video conferencing, text messages can be transmitted, the presence of a video and screen demonstration function allows you to show texts, presentations, exercises. A positive factor is the organization of paired and group work in session halls, the ability to control the formation of skills and abilities of foreign language speech using chat and video communication. All this contributes to the development of foreign language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. The disadvantages of this program include a time limit of 40 minutes for free use, as well as the inability to store educational materials on this platform. In this regard, we consider it appropriate to combine the technical capabilities of this program with the Microsoft Teams training platform.

           The first pedagogical condition is implemented directly in a series of classes on certain topics. So, on the Zoom and Microsoft Teams platforms, the teacher organizes training in both synchronous and asynchronous modes. He creates team groups, adds channels for educational materials or podcasts. The teacher also provides access to educational materials, creates assignments and tests, which allows you to track the completion of tasks. Conducting video conferences, broadcasting presentations, educational materials, audio and video files at an online lesson allows you to ensure continuity of training in all types of foreign language speech activity.  

The second pedagogical condition is the organization of the learning process in the pre–school system, taking into account personality-oriented learning. The essence of personality-oriented learning is formulated by I.S. Yakimanskaya, according to which the student is recognized as the main acting figure of the entire educational process ^[9]. In DO, the teacher focuses on each student and recognizes his uniqueness. The student's personality becomes the subject and the main criterion for the effectiveness of the pre-school process. The task of the teacher is to organize a learning environment that will allow the student to rely on their potential and the appropriate online platform. The student and the teacher jointly create such educational activities that will allow them to develop their personal qualities.

The implementation of the second pedagogical condition in the Microsoft Teams and Zoom online platforms is to create a favorable psychological climate, positive motivation, and a mood for successful work. Teachers create video conferences and conduct classes online with the ability to exchange messages in a chat, and can also record and save videos for later viewing to students who were not present at the lesson.

The third pedagogical condition is to ensure an individual learning trajectory in the pre–school process. The teacher can conduct individual consultations in the session hall, distribute various tasks to students through an individual chat. With the help of the "session halls" and "rooms" option, students get the opportunity to organize individual, pair, group forms of work. The teacher can also send educational materials, links, tests, tests on options to both a group and a specific student.

It should also be noted that a foreign language, due to its pronounced focus on the student's personality, his interests in learning, allows for the implementation of such an educational strategy, during which students will be presented with various opportunities to choose their individual path in accordance with the pace and style of work. The task of the teacher in such a system is to provide the opportunity to choose from several options.

The third pedagogical condition is implemented directly at the stage of individual tasks. So, the teacher can publish a link to authentic electronic materials (podcasts of German publishers Hueber, Cornelsen, etc., podcasts of Deutsche Welle Deutschlandlabor, Ticket nach Berlin), educational videos for training grammatical material, and students can choose the material that will interest them and present the results to the whole group.

The fourth pedagogical condition is the organization of educational and cognitive activities focused on the formation of professional competencies, skills of self–education and self-development in the process of distance learning. Online platforms allow students to show their own activity to solve various communicative-cognitive, design-research and creative tasks in the process of mastering a foreign language. The vector of the organization of educational and cognitive activity here is directed from the tasks offered by teachers to the educational products created by students. Thus, the Microsoft Teams platform toolkit allows you to integrate various information resources in the form of text files, media files, tables or in the form of external links to a specific web page.

The implementation of the fourth pedagogical condition involves the activity of the teacher to create optimal conditions for resource management in order to ensure the quality and quantity of information necessary for the assimilation of students, thereby preparing students to predict the results of their activities during the study of the topic, to choose information resources for the project or the creation of a group presentation.  All this contributes to the independent acquisition of knowledge, their flexible application, and ultimately, self-education and self-development of students.

The fifth pedagogical condition is the orientation of the educational process to the formation of project and research skills during distance learning. At the stage of development of speaking skills on the topic, it is advisable to make a presentation of projects. The teacher can suggest project topics that students can choose at will and present at the final lesson on the topic. We see the advantage of project activity in the formation of skills of joint activity, the connection of learning with real life, research activities using the language being studied. Students can conduct a social survey, interview, analyze the situation from different sides. At the same time, students acquire the research skills necessary for their future professional activities. Students approach the consideration of various issues or phenomena from the perspective of a researcher, defining the purpose, objectives, research methods, sources of information, hypothesizing solutions to the problem, outlining ways to solve it, discussing the results obtained.

The fifth pedagogical condition is realized during the work of students with project tasks at the stage of development of speaking skills. The teacher offers to conduct a final lesson on the topic in the form of a project presentation and presents a choice of problematic tasks or tasks that students can choose at will. Then students individually or in groups investigate the problem, select materials and methods for presenting the results of their work.

The sixth pedagogical condition is the organization of management and control of the formation of foreign language communicative competence in the process of distance learning. We are talking about the organization of current, intermediate and final control, while it is important to ensure constructiveness, reliability and validity. The control of the formation of speaking and listening skills is carried out during video conferences in Zoom or in Microsoft Teams, while the object of control are varieties of monologue speech (description, narration, reasoning), types of dialogic speech (dialogue-questioning, dialogue-conversation, discussion).  The level of formation of lexical, grammatical skills and writing and reading skills can be checked using the Microsoft Teams program. It should be recognized that the control in the DO is associated with problems of an organizational and methodological nature, the complexity of the teacher's work increases. 

The implementation of the sixth pedagogical condition consists in the preparation by the teacher of tests, various tasks to control the formation of foreign language communicative competence. The most suitable for this is the Microsoft Teams platform, where a teacher can use the Forms service to create various tests. When developing a test, there are options for choosing an answer option, a detailed text response, or evaluating the correctness/incorrectness of the statement. It is noteworthy that the question can be asked in the form of text, images (graphics/diagrams) or a short video. The use of tests contributes to the intensification and objectification of control, improvement of the quality of control, coverage of all students. When composing control tasks, you can add files with texts, assign deadlines, and enter evaluation criteria. After assigning a task, the teacher monitors the progress of tests and assignments.

Thus, the use of various means of distance learning opens up new prospects in the field of teaching foreign languages and contributes to the implementation of optimal pedagogical conditions such as ensuring the continuity of teaching all types of foreign language speech activity in the pre-school process, personality-oriented education, individual learning trajectory, the formation of professional competencies, skills of self-education and self-development of students, project and research skills activities, as well as the organization of management and control of the formation of foreign language communicative competence in the process of distance learning.

Distance learning using platforms: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. it allows to activate the speech-thinking activity of students, to develop the skills of using computer technology. Both services are under active development, the functions are being improved by developers. Teachers need to monitor current changes and choose the most suitable option for themselves. At the same time, the effective implementation of distance learning based on online platforms and information and communication technologies in teaching foreign languages is limited by the lack of methodological recommendations, developments, manuals, as well as insufficient technical equipment of students, the lack of "live" communication.