HSE Training Universities on Blended Learning Teaching Methods
HSE has launched a new experimental programme called ‘Development of Blended Learning Instruction,’ which is geared towards universities that use HSE’s online courses. In early July, instructors from these universities took part in a blended learning summer school.
In 2016 HSE entered into a network partnership with a number of Russian universities. Under this partnership, the schools are able to use HSE’s online courses as part of their own educational programmes. HSE has now taken its next step and is teaching partner universities how to work with blended learning courses.
‘This project is an example of how top universities are sharing technologies for advanced and high-quality education,’ HSE Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin notes. ‘HSE not only shares educational content, but also offers its network partners unique teaching methodologies.’
To kick off the ‘Development of Blended Learning Instruction’ programme, three popular online courses were chosen on the National Open Education Platform: Financial Markets and Institutions, Foundations of Corporate Finance and Marketing. The universities that chose these courses as part of the network partnership are organising a blended learning methodology for them for the 2018-2019 academic year. Students will take HSE’s online course through the National Open Education Platform and then go to seminars with an instructor from their university.
To make blended learning more effective, HSE organised a summer school that saw the participation of 24 instructors from 12 universities in Russia and the CIS. Over the course of five days, the authors of HSE’s online courses, each a leading expert in their field, taught courses on methods for carrying out seminars, practicums, and various projects.
‘What was most important and useful for me were the organisational questions of carrying out blended learning [courses], applying interactive methods during learning, and establishing effective feedback with students,’ comments Yulia Rybasova, an Associate Professor at the Stavropol State Agrarian University. ‘It was also really interesting sharing my experience teaching marketing with my colleagues from other universities.’
Senior Lecturer from the Ural State University of Economics Evgeniya Zhadko noted that for her students, online courses represent ‘the ability to tap into learning at HSE, which is extremely important for them in terms of both professionalism and overall image.’
HSE offers a variety of courses on the National Open Education Platform and Coursera. For news and updates, please see the eLearning Office pages on Facebook and VK.