The role of the curator in the organization of educational activities of students in a distance format on the example of the Chita State Medical Academy
CURATOR’S ROLE IN ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS IN DISTANCE LEARNING: CASE STUDY OF THE CHITA STATE MEDICAL ACADEMY
Alyona Alyushina
PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor, Chita State Medical Academy,
Russia, Chita
Elena Rozumnaya
Senior Lecturer, Chita State Medical Academy,
Russia, Chita
РОЛЬ КУРАТОРА В ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ВОСПИТАТЕЛЬНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ СТУДЕНТОВ В ДИСТАНЦИОННОМ ФОРМАТЕ НА ПРИМЕРЕ ЧИТИНСКОЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ МЕДИЦИНСКОЙ АКАДЕМИИ
Алюшина Алёна Анатольевна
канд. полит. наук, доц., Читинская государственная медицинская академия,
РФ, г. Чита
Розумная Елена Владимировна
ст.преподаватель, Читинская государственная медицинская академия,
РФ, г. Чита
Adaptation of the new technologies involving e-learning is supported by the state at different levels, as it is endorsed by the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Education in the Russian Federation No. 273-FZ dd. December 29, 2012. Pursuant to Article 16 thereof on Implementation of Educational Programmes Using E-learning and Distance Learning, the meanings of “e-learning” and “distance learning technologies and methods to implement programmes involving these technologies” are explained [1].
Given that the contemporary pedagogical science regards the educational process as “a set of teaching and educational and self-learning processes aimed at solving the problems of education, upbringing and personality development in accordance with the state educational standard”, it is entirely consistent to use various ICT tools in educational work [2]. As per A.N. Leontiev, in the structure of any activity, including the educational one, it is required to accentuate motives and goals, as well as the corresponding activities and actions, wherein the motive and the goal coincide, “the role of the common goal is fulfilled by a conscious motive, which turns into a motive-goal because of its mindfulness” [3]. It means that, if the main goal of the teacher's activity lies in development of the child's personality, then this kind of activity will be the educational one.
The year 2020 faced a forced transition from full-time to distance learning, and among others at the Chita State Medical Academy. This transition was not restricted only to implementation of the learning process, but to implementation of the educational activities as well. One of the interaction channels between the students and the Academy, particularly during the first study years, is the curatorial activity by tradition.
Curator is one of the professional functions of a university teacher, related to the pedagogical support for students as the adult learners. For that reason, attributing curatorship to the professional field of activity of a university teacher, pedagogical expertise, pedagogical goal-setting, pedagogical (practical and diagnostic) thinking, pedagogical intuition and foresight, pedagogical observation, pedagogical optimism and resourcefulness, and pedagogical reflection should represent crucial professional qualities [4].
Curator contributes to effective solution of educational problems, provides support, and facilitates smooth adaptation to the specifics of university life for students, motivates them to acquire new knowledge and master the profession, guides “towards awareness of actions and taking responsibility for them” [5]. Curator informs, promotes, supports the enthusiastic students, and acts as a mentor. The mission entrusted to the curator is not only that of being a reference source or controller, but also providing an example and cultivating the student’s personality.
In the context of transition to a new learning mode, namely a distance form, the challenge arises of administering control by curators and interacting with the groups of students. Naturally, the response to the problem lies in using the means of information and communication technologies.
The use of ICT in the curator’s work is definitely a solution under conditions of impossibility of the face-to-face interaction. Even before the launch of distance learning, the curators of the Chita State Medical Academy used instant messengers such as Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram, VK, which enabled creation of the multi-user groups.
The educational activities were conducted remotely in different formats: competitions, e.g., “Teambuilding for Freshmen”, quizzes, and quests. Even participation in creativity competitions, which requires direct interaction, was made possible with the help of ICT as well (poetry recitation competitions, prose recitations, visits to virtual museums with the feedback exchange, singing and dancing, and watching videos with the follow-up discussion). Still, of course, the activity remains to be remote, which shows through a delay in time. The possibility to gain first-hand experience in real time, demanding from the student an agile response to the situation, is lost.
The upside of using these messengers is the high speed of response from the process participants, namely the exchange of information, rapid collection of personal data about the student, electronic documents, photographs, and much more which is needed in order to compile the student's portfolio. The organizational issues are resolved promptly and successfully. It is positive yet that there is also a time lag between perception of a message sent by the curator and the response to this message. Still, it is impossible to dismiss obvious drawbacks of this method of communication, i.e., impersonal and detached communication, which is intermediated by a technical device.
The wish for having face-to-face communication with the teacher was observed as early as at the initial stages of the curator's communication using WhatsApp. The students greeted and waited with pleasure for video conferences with the curator as it was important for them to establish a trust-based contact. For this kind of sessions, such programmes as Skype or Zoom, i.e., the platforms enabling video calls, were used extensively. These tools do not only have advantages, such as the ability to communicate in real time, but the disadvantages as well, namely the limited possibilities of the Internet speed, which reduce the number of participants in the session.
Distance learning and education can definitely yield favourable results once it takes place systematically. It is important to follow the plan of the educational work at the Academy, as well as the timetable of curatorial sessions, thus promoting discipline and successful adaptation. Besides, an individual approach is crucial; the curator needs to take into consideration the psychological characteristics of each student, be aware of the problems, pay attention to the “risk group”, and stay in contact with the students’ parents to promptly address emerging issues. And by all means, each session should have clear goals and objectives. Among the advantages are as follows: an increase in the curators’ authority, stricter control over distance learning, creation of various communities for all participants in the educational work, the curators of departments, and the students’ parents. Yet the disadvantages comprise the absence of balance for studying and leisure time; detachment of the process (persistent motivation on the part of the curator is required); lack of personal contact, which is very significant in terms of adaptation and solution of a number of personality issues; elevated fatigue because of working on a computer, phone or other gadget; absence of the entire range of technical services for the students; technical failures (lack of the Internet, poor connection, no show).
In order to overcome the constraints as such, it is required to resolve the following tasks: implementation of an individual approach (making up a work plan taking into account personal characteristics and abilities); involving new participants into the educational process, for instance, inviting psychologists, project managers, etc.
Definitely, nowadays teachers face a formidable challenge of searching for new technologies within the educational system which could make a significant impact on four basic processes: learning, education, self-learning, self-education. In light of this, the role of guiding the process of the student’s development is assigned to the teacher and the curator, and the information resources are means of achieving the desired goals.
Summarising the above, the prospects for development of the distance education system at the Chita State Medical Academy should be outlined as follows:
- the use of distance education features should become part of the educational activities at the university (incorporation of the distance education features into the educational work plan for the 2022-23 academic year);
- the need to improve the material and technical facilities of the educational institution;
- to schedule training of the teaching staff and students related to the use of different educational platforms.
References:
- Federal Law of the Russian Federation dd. December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ (as amended dd. December 8, 2020) on Education in the Russian Federation
- Paniotova L. Specifics of the educational work planning using the Internet technologies. // https://gazeta-pedagogov.ru/osobennosti-organizatsii-vospitatelnoj-raboty-s-ispolzovaniem-internet-tehnologij/
- Leontiev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality: a study guide. – Moscow: Smysl: Academy, 2005. - 352 p.
- Grishaev O.V., Shcherbakova M.V., Professional role of the curator. // https://akvobr.ru/professionalnaja_rol_kuratora.html
- Nikitina V.V., Kutsaya A.Yu., Salun S.N. On the problem of curatorship at the university of today. Contemporary problems of science and education. 2019; № 2