Global tools for educational organizing and personal learning

Alfred K. Ailamazyan
Sergei M. Abramov
Evgeny D. Patarakin

Abstract

This paper reports on a research project designed to demonstrate how to bring global telecommunications networks into all levels of a regional education and to explore what role this technology may play in shaping of new educational environment. We developed region educational network for helping all categories of tutors and learners to explore a new telecommunication media. Probably the most significant result is that regional network greatly promotes local internal communication and personal reflection as opposed to mere informational share.

Introduction

The consortium of following participants: Rusian Institute of Regional Problems, Program Systems Institute, University of Pereslavl presents the project of regional informational and educational landscape. These institutions are supported bringing of a new computer technology into the regional educational system, fostering new kinds of teaching materials and learning environments. For the last five years, work has been in progress at Pereslavl-Zalessky on the development of regional telecommunication network, which is now in routine use in every levels of the regional education from kindergarten to University.

1. Internet connectivity in Pereslavl-Zalessky

Considerable progress has been made during the last two years in IP connectivity of Pereslavl-Zalessky. A 28.8kbit/s IP link between Pereslavl and Moscow and a 64 kbits/s IP satellite link between Pereslavl and St. Petersburg. There are more than one hundred connected computers in the town now. Telecommunication laboratory "botik" are now setting up regional backbone infrastructure connecting major academic and educational centers in the town. 10 mbit/s optic fiber lines are used wherever available and 28.8 kbit/s on all other links.

2. Co-operation across regional educational network

Internet connectivity has involved Pereslavl educational system into the worldwide network of teachers, students and educational administrators. There are three main new perspectives for regional education and culture: We believe that the last perspective is mostly important. Teachers and students in Pereslavl actively used global tools to get and put information about each other and their native town. It is very significant that now about 80 percents of the "botik" IP-traffic is internal traffic.

3. Personal learning

Pereslavl-Zalessky telecommunication center provides Pereslavl students with access to international network and its own informational resources. At the same time that regional resources is growing up similar efforts is continued to develop personal learning media through the following projects:
The Students home-pages
All students of the University have they own home-page on the University WWW server. Now they are setting up different virtual community on the base of joint project, mutual interests, etc.
The joint e-mail project
The joint e-mail project between the students of English at the University of Pereslavl and students of Russian at Trinity College, Dublin. Students have an opportunity to see how foreigners perceive their country, they can compare their own perception of their home city with that of their foreign friends.
Psychological projects
Psychological projects "Lets play with your constructs!" and "Let deceive your psychologist" within the framework of Psychological Web Site, where students played role of researchers, studying their own mental categories and mental categories of another people, evaluated the changes of their own mind during educational activity
Ecological and Cross-cultural projects
The special ecological focus of the regional education has determined the subject matter of telecommunication cooperation with students from Japan. The participants discussed the various ecological problems that their respective countries are faced with.
Cross-cultural projects are presented to the world to heighten understanding between people and countries. For example - Takeda-san Story Project. He spent five years of his life at war and then four years as a prisoner of war in Siberia. His experience at war left an indelible mark on the rest of his life.

Conclusion

Now we are setting up in a WWW space virtual model of the lifelong educational chain. This virtual model will help us to clear all parts and links of educational system to the tutors, students and their parents. We believe that main goal of the informational highway is to bring to students new technology of thinking. As Vannevar Bush wrote: "Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems.... His excursion may be more enjoyable if he can reacquire the privilege of forgetting the manifold things". We believe that new learning environment encourage students to learn in harmony with another people and the regional resources.

Information about the authors:

Alfred K. Ailamazyan is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor, D.Sc. in engineering, Director of the Rusian Institute of Regional Problems

Sergei M. Abramov is the director of the Research Center for Multiprocessor Systems and the head of the Laboratory of program systems for parallel architectures in the RCMS.

Evgeny D. Patarakin is the Director of Distance Learning Laboratory University of Pereslavl, Ph.D. in Education.