Currently, due to the rapid development of network and communication technologies, there is a need to effectively use new network technologies. In this area, the most urgent task is to create and widely introduce in the educational process automated systems for teaching and diagnosing the quality of knowledge of specialists. Automated training systems (ATS) have the following characteristics:
Flexibility. The opportunity to study at a convenient time, in a convenient place and pace. Unregulated period of time for mastering discipline.
Modularity. An opportunity from a set of independent training courses – modules to form a curriculum that meets individual or group needs.
Parallelism. Parallel with the professional activity training, i.e. on the job.
Coverage. Simultaneous appeal to many sources of educational information (electronic libraries, data banks, knowledge bases, etc.) of a large number of students. Communication through communication networks with each other and with the teachers.
Economical. Effective use of training areas, technical means, vehicles, a concentrated and unified presentation of training information and multi-access to it reduces the costs of training specialists.
Technological. Use in the educational process of the latest achievements of information and telecommunication technologies that promote the advancement of man into the world postindustrial information space.
The new role of the teacher. ATS expands and updates the role of the teacher, who must coordinate the cognitive process, constantly improve the courses taught by him, enhance creative activity and qualification in accordance with innovations and innovations.
The ATS also has a positive influence on the student, enhancing his creative and intellectual potential through self-organization, the desire for knowledge, the ability to interact with computer technology and independently make responsible decisions. Training in automated learning systems is divided into two categories:
- Synchronous
- Asynchronous.
In the synchronous model, students and teachers communicate in real time through virtual audiences, using a combination of different methods of communication.
With an asynchronous approach, the student himself determines the pace of learning. In particular, he chooses different media, can perform tasks in accordance with the auditor program or plan, and then transfer the finished work to the teacher for evaluation.
Designing automated training systems and diagnosing the quality of knowledge for the local network and the Internet makes it possible to automate not only the learning process on the lecture material, but also to automate this form of studies, such as the individual work of students, since such systems are based on a distributed model of information storage. In turn, the use of unified formats for the transmission of information on the Internet will make it possible to expand the scope of application of automated training and diagnostic systems in various universities.
It is common knowledge that the structure of training courses relies not only on lecture material and practical exercises. One of the important components of the structure of the training course is the individual work of students (IRS). Based on the provisions of the modern, the IRS is allocated from 17 to 34 hours of study time, and the lecture material – from 51 to 68 such hours. Thus, the use of the Internet as a basis for the design of automated learning and diagnostic systems allows us to build a new model for providing learning knowledge for automated educational systems.
For example, if the structure of a lecture material is called the core of knowledge (basic or basic knowledge), then the educational material not included in the course of lectures, but related to the subjects studied within the discipline in question, can be called additional knowledge. The whole set of additional knowledge forms the core environment. The core environment provides the material that the student needs to learn in the course of performing the IRS. The core of knowledge together with the core environment form a macromodel of all the educational material within the framework of the discipline in question.
In this regard, the need to create an automated training system that meets all of the above requirements is identified:
- Training is faster and is learned more deeply if the student shows an active interest in the studied subject.
- Training is more effective if the forms of acquiring knowledge and skills are such that they can be easily transferred to the conditions of “real life”, for which they are intended.
- Training goes faster if the learner learns the result of each of his answers.
- Training goes more qualitatively, if the program on the subject is built on the principle of consistent presentation of the material.
- Knowledge of the results of their work stimulates the performance of the next task. The difficulties that a student must overcome must appear to him consistently one after another, and a high level of activity develops successfully overcoming them.
- As learning itself is individual, the learning process should be organized so that each student can learn the program according to their individual characteristics. For a number of reasons, some learn the material faster than others, so teaching both in one group is difficult.
The following advantages of ATS were noted:
- One of the obvious advantages of distance learning is that it allows students to master the training course at their own pace.
- Since such a curriculum is usually offered in a structured way, for example, as separate training modules, training using modern technologies is often more coherent and unified than traditional classroom instruction.
- Another advantage of distance learning is that it allows you to refuse trips of company employees to courses in another city.
- Since distance learning does not require staff to travel specifically to another location, this solution also helps to reduce staff time losses.
- Finally, distance learning can help companies get around some potentially unpleasant consequences of learning directly at work. For example, some tasks can have extremely dangerous consequences for a working network. In such cases it is much safer to provide the student with a closed “testing ground” for experiments than risking a system malfunction.
Unfortunately, the planning, implementation and support of distance learning can be difficult. They can vary depending on factors such as the type of program, the needs of your organization, the purpose of the program, and the speed at which the curriculum is learned.
The disadvantages of ATS are the following:
- ATS can create a significant load on the network, often taking up an already scarce bandwidth.
- In addition, it may require investments in expensive hardware
- Depending on the complexity of the ATS used, the costs of their implementation can quickly bring to naught all the economic benefits.
- Depending on the combination of the means of presenting information, as well as the number of students in the classroom and the volume of educational material, ATS often require more complex planning than traditional classroom activities. In particular, in the case of a synchronous regime, careful planning and planning can not cause all sorts of difficulties for students and teachers alike.
- Another issue is related to the individual style of learning. Some people simply can not learn without direct communication in the classroom. In such cases, the distance learning program may make it difficult to learn the material or increase the duration of the training. However, other students, however, can achieve great success by self-education, looking briefly at information that is already familiar, and focusing on a more in-depth study of the new material.
- Another difficulty is that some students need external guidance in order to succeed.
Thus, we see the creation of a training system based on procedural and declarative approaches that implement new information technologies, including client server technologies, which will allow the implementation of operational quality control of training. The use of information technology is necessary at all levels of education – primary, secondary, higher. Without the introduction of information technologies in education, it is impossible to provide today’s students with ample opportunities to obtain the use of information not only in their professional sphere, but also in all areas of modern society.
Forecasting the prospects of ATS with the help of modern technologies is not so easy to give, because their fate depends on many circumstances, to which part the creators of training programs and their potential clients can not in any way influence. As practice shows, when it is required to cut the budget, educational programs are often the first candidates for reduction. In addition, there is the problem of purchasing expensive equipment. Finally, the prospects for the dissemination of distance learning depend on such global factors as the general state of the economy. Now, the high demand for highly qualified IT specialists contributes to the active development of the training market, but this balance may be disrupted if the situation on the labor market changes significantly.
As we have seen, many of these trends are quite real, so the future of distance learning looks promising. Although the industry will continue to depend on external circumstances, distance learning technology will certainly be able to quickly adapt to new conditions.