Content and structure of massive open online courses technologies in the context of trends in the organization teaching in higher education institutions

Don State Technical University, 344002, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: kuksa2@gmail.com

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compile an analytical review of the technologies of mass open online courses: their goals, objectives, pedagogical and technical features of the organization in order to use them as an additional educational resource for foreign language teaching of university students. The objectives of the study are to conduct a content analysis, classification and generalization of the results regarding the pedagogical conditions and characteristics of the most representative examples of mass open online courses in the Russian and international segment of educational Internet resources. The research methodology is based on the provisions of the competence-based and personality-oriented approaches to foreign language education at the university. For this purpose, the study examined the organizational and methodological features of the language courses Udemy, Coursera, edX, Stepik, Lectorium, Universarium and some other open education platforms. The analysis made it possible to systematize, summarize and present the main organizational and methodological characteristics of educational platforms in terms of the organization of training and the content of language courses.The study involved 852 students and 14 teachers who used mass open online courses in teaching non-linguistic students a foreign language for two semesters as an additional Internet resource. As a result of the conducted research, the components of the model of using a mass open online course in the organization of distance learning and as an additional training course to the main content of the educational material on the discipline «Foreign Language» at the university were developed and refined.