COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF APPLICATION OF BLENDED LEARNING IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The article explores a new pedagogical approach that has been gaining popularity in recent decades. This refers to a blened learning model that makes it possible to ensure the availability of higher education for various categories of students. Moreover, the transition to a new format of education was due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation in the world (Covid-19). To date, Russian and foreign researchers have made attempts to formulate the essence of this approach and the ways of its implementation in the educational process, however, theorized knowledge about blended learning and the practices of its implementation are still insufficient. For this reason, the organization of training in a blended format is still experimental. The article describes the experience of implementing a blended learning model in leading Russian and foreign universities, namely, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, the University of Maryland, Moscow State Institute of International Relations and Tomsk Polytechnic University. The teachers note that due to the fact that students study a part of the educational material on their own through information and communication technologies before the start of the classroom lessons, is freed up more time for analysis of received information. In this regard, the classroom lesson becomes a place for generating new ideas and proposals. Thus, when organizing blended learning, the role of the teacher changes – he acts not as a translator of ready-made knowledge, but as a consultant and adviser. Consequently, as a result of training, an independent personality is formed, capable of exploring and critically analyzing the information received.