Using video conferencing services in network educational communities: Theory and experience of implementation in teaching informatics

The article raises the problem of using video conferencing services in network educational communities in the context of virtualization of the educational space when organizing the interaction of students in the process of online learning in informatics. Changes in the education system associated with the development of social networks and network communities are discussed, and new opportunities provided by them to the teacher for including students in various types of educational and cognitive activities are analyzed. The concepts of “network community” and “social networks” are revealed. The role of network communities and social networks as collective subjects of social information and educational activities on the Internet is demonstrated. From the standpoint of the implementation of the principle of interactivity of interaction of subjects of educational activity in network communities, the analysis of educational interaction of schoolchildren in the format of video conference based on the Internet is carried out. The characteristics of the capabilities of popular services for network interaction of participants in the educational process when organizing training in the video conference format are described, examples of open software solutions are given. The experience of using video conferencing services in teaching informatics and robotics in the context of the implementation of the educational process in the networked educational communities of the Internet is revealed. The author's approach to the use of tools of popular services for organizing video conferencing in the implementation of interactive training in promising areas of informatics and robotics in the process of joint activities on the Internet is proposed. The results obtained contribute to the theory of informatization of education and can be used in practice by teachers who implement the educational process with schoolchildren using interactive interaction services and Internet resources.