The prospects of development of secondary, specialized secondary and higher education depend on the level of information technologies advancement. Online education is one of the areas where new technologies can be applied. Online education is a unique process of getting knowledge, which is carried out with the help of modern telecommunication and information technologies. This process is realized remotely, without any contacts between teachers and students. [1] In modern conditions online education is implemented with the help of the following technologies:
- Case-technology (CD-technology). It is based on completing and mailing of educational materials in both print and electronic media to students for self-study, but with consultations with teachers;
- Television and satellite technologies. These kinds of technology help to deliver lectures and seminars through the satellite communication channel;
- Network technologies. These technologies are based on computer training programs and electronic textbooks, which are placed on the web servers of the University. Some universities use the Internet to deliver online lectures and seminars. [2]
The analysis of applying information technology allows one to distinguish the following tendencies and prospects of the online higher education development:
1. An increase in the number of online courses. As a result of the permanent improvement and expansion of online education the range of courses and disciplines is getting wider and wider.
2. A change of a professor’s status in the university. With future development of online education, especially in such American universities as Harvard and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the necessity of expensive life-long professorial contracts will run low. As soon as professors finish the final elaboration of their online education projects, their role will be reduced to the updating of the courses.
3. A change in the university budget. Based on the fact that the necessity for life-long professorial contracts will decrease, professors will receive commission charges for the name and single updates, and the rest of the work will be done by assistants and supervisors, who have a smaller salary. Besides, the cheapness of online education in comparison with full-time education attracts bigger amount of students, which allows the universities to gain more money.
4. Free distribution of educational material. For instance, in Harvard they have launched an online-university project, which is called edX. The project includes free courses for everyone. But if students want to receive a diploma in the termination of courses, they should sign up and start to pay the registration fee, examination fee, and etc.
5. Limited application. So, for disciplines which demand a considerable number of practical and laboratory research, these technologies are applicable only to a limited extent in terms of theoretical aspects, but in terms of practical aspects a direct student- and- teacher contact is necessary.
6. Increased competition between universities. Most likely, the universities which are on the initial stage of the online education development and which offer rather low prices, will take the leading positions and become the most global and the best. [3]
In the last few years the world has witnessed a real boom of free online education in the format of a Massive Open Online Course.
The distinguishing feature of these courses is not just the video-lectures, textbooks for reading and assignments for self-control, but also the availability of an electronic platform for users to discuss the courses. Especially advanced platforms provide communication with the teacher, who monitors the overall progress and answers the questions. The most successful of these resources are presented in Table 1.
Table 1
The number of students of Massive Open Online Course [4]
|
|
Resource name |
Audience (millions) in months. |
|
1 |
Coursera |
5,8 |
|
2 |
edX |
1,6 |
|
3 |
Udacity |
1,6 |
|
4 |
Khan Academy |
3,9 |
All this indicates to the formation of a global market for distance education, which has the following features:
- transparency of the market information;
- simplicity of the market entry;
- low transaction costs;
- the object of transaction in such market is the right to be tested for the purpose of obtaining an education document, i.e. a product, but not a service;
- low prime cost of a good (service) due to the redistribution of expenditure pattern.
The formation of a lower price for higher education will lead to a considerable inflow of those who are interested in getting a higher education. The preference will be given to the world-renowned universities, leaders of the international ratings: MIT, Harvard, Princeton University, Stanford University, the UK Open University and etc. Therefore, the development of online education, reduction in the cost of courses will lead to the redistribution of participation in higher education by income level. At the same time, a significant number of inefficient (low rating) institutions will lose a considerable number of students and could not exist in the same mode.
Thus, the development of online education in Russia can serve as a catalyst for the reduction in the number of inefficient universities, and will facilitate gaining the global market of online higher education. So, first of all, it is necessary to define the competitive advantages that will allow competing with well-known foreign higher education universities in this market.
References:
1. Online learning. Online education // My education. [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.moeobrazovanie.ru/distantsionnoe_obuchenie.html (address date 11.09.2014).
2. Sharov V. S. Online education: form, technology, tool // News of the Herzen Russian Pedagogical University. — 2009. — № 94. — 237p.
3. Sumlenny S. Ten universities will remain // EXPERT ONLINE [Electronic resource]. URL: http://expert.ru/expert/2013/48/ostanetsya-desyat-universitetov/ (address date 11.09.2014).
4. Bulin D. How to study free of charge in MSU, Harvard and anywhere // BBC. Russian service. Science. [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/science/2014/01/140122_russia_online_education.shtml (address date 11.09.2014).
