Online Chinese language courses to be launched in Russia

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in Chinese language will be launched in Russia, according to Alevitina Chernikova, rector of the National University of Science and Technology MISiS.

The courses, jointly created by MISiS and Kelvin Liu, former president of China's first MOOC platform, XuetangX, will be taught by Chinese teachers at MISiS. The two sides also will cooperate in developing an assessment system for engineering subjects.

The university is the first in Russia to introduce online training in foreign languages.

"Using the online learning model for studying foreign languages is becoming increasingly popular, especially in the for-profit education sector," Chernikova said. "However, the transition to online learning calls for careful methodological and organizational preparations."

At MISiS, based in Moscow, the basic education program is being expanded to include MOOC and several types of blended learning.

"Our main objective at this point is to encourage students to take online courses and strengthen the role of self-instruction," Chernikova said.

In the next three or four months, MISiS courses will be available at edx.org, an international MOOC provider.

However, Chernikova said she believes that distance learning will not fully replace traditional forms of education.

"For example, it is impossible to receive a good technical education online. You cannot become a good engineer without laboratory work, practical projects and onsite training," Chernikova said. "This is why engineering courses constitute only 5 percent of education programs offered on distance learning platforms around the world."

On the other hand, blended learning, the coexistence of these two forms of learning, is not just possible but is growing rapidly. Blended learning, a combination of traditional forms of classroom instruction and online learning technologies, is one of the main trends in education today.

The main theme of this year's international conference for new educational technologies, in which Chernikova is a speaker, is "Blended Education: Traditions and Future." The conference is held from September 12 to 14 in Moscow.