Smart-space architecture to ensure IT-competency of Physical Education teacher

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

E.M. Lyubimova1
E.Z. Galimullina1
PhD, Associate Professor R.R. Ibatullin1
1Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University, Yelabuga

Keywords: smart-space architecture, IT competency, smart education, road map, student, physical education specialist.

Background. Presently the national Physical Education teachers meet many practical challenges in the attempts to apply modern IT technologies in their service fields [2]. In the efforts to offer facilitating conditions for the relevant professional competency building, a wide variety of the education system options is offered by many researchers including: open/ cluster-networking/ individualized (personality-centered) teacher training tools with the relevant IT/smart academic education environment [1]. Smart education on a conceptual level means the versatile education model applicable in an interactive education format to effectively develop the relevant analytical, problems-solving and communication skills and high creativity in students [7]. The required IT competency may be successfully built using modern smart architectural tools and facilitating environment including online smart learning courses. Such a smart-space architecture shall be based on networking partnerships of universities with schools with their institutional responsibilities and contributions being reasonably shared [4].

Objective of the study was to make provisions for the IT-competency building in modern physical education specialists with due regard to their actual professional needs and responsibilities.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was designed to develop a frame education model with the educational process stages and offer a smart-space architecture template for the IT-competency building in the modern physical education specialists. Subject to the new smart education model piloting experiment completed in autumn 2016 were the first-year students (n=36) majoring in Physical Education and Life Safety at Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University. The sample progress was rated by the pre- and post-experimental questionnaire surveys, with the questionnaire form designed to cover every detail and aspect of the IT-competency building process in future Physical Education teachers.

Study results and discussion. The smart-space learning architecture was designed to include the following process stages:

Stage 1: School practice, with the student assisted in his/her beginner teaching by a highly experienced and skilled Physical Education teacher supervisor. The practice includes professional tests (e.g. video-systems for demo exercises and tests to show the trainees model techniques versus their own mistakes, with the movement sequence and anatomical schematics analysis; keeping online registers of competitive events etc.), with the student’s progress and challenges in the IT-toolkit mastering process being analyzed by the teacher supervisor and the university manager versus the course-specific requirements. The teacher supervisor offers special practical missions in the process to help the practitioner master the most challenging IT-toolkit application issues detected in the practice.

Stage 2: University practice, with the student assisted by the university manager in his/her data mining and studies to: solve the individual problems found at Stage 1; come to the most efficient solutions using the selected software tools; analyze the practical resource and missions achievable with the available hardware; adapt the available data processing technologies for the profession-specific IT goals; and work out the relevant digital documents to computerize the individual PES service.

Stage 3: New school practice, with the future teacher assisted by an experienced teacher supervisor in practical application of the technologies and solutions found at Stage 2, for the mutual benefit [4].

Stage 4: Combined school and university practice, with a special emphasis on the reflection sub-stages to help the student find his/her own strong sides and weaknesses in mastering the PES-service-specific IT technology and solutions. It should be noted that at every stage the student’s progress is facilitated by different smart-space elements including the educational process design; action plan; online smart learning course and web-portfolio tools.

Educational process design is intended to model the professional PES service in the peer group sessions assisted by a teacher supervisor [6]. Of special importance in the process is the individual action plan to help each student organize own reflection, correction and progress forecasts in the individual educational path using the relevant smart-space elements. In other words, the action plan may be described as the step-by-step scenario of the educational process with indication of every process action, interim report, deadline etc. (Merzon).

Online smart learning course provides the means for self-reliant learning in convenient time, with the learning process assisted by consulting with the teacher / group peers, and with the interactive education missions designed to facilitate the individual academic progress [5]. The web-portfolio technology is applied in the process to provide the reference points for the teacher supervisor to individualize the educational process in view of academic successes, challenges and preferences of each student. The reference points are input in the individual action plan with relevant changes and amendments, with the academic progress jointly rated by the educational process contributors and fixed in the web-portfolio.

Benefits of the proposed smart-space IT competency building model in application to the future PES specialists were tested by an education =al experiment, with the pre- and post-experimental IT competency rated by a questionnaire surveys. Given in Table 1 hereunder are the pre- and post-experimental IR competency rates of the future PES teachers.

Table 1. IT competency building model piloting experiment: pre- and post-experimental IT competency rates of the future PES specialists

Competency rating questions

Responses, %

Yes

No

Uncertain

 

Pre

Post

Pre

Post

Pre

Post

Do you know benefits of the IT toolkit for practical application in data mining, storage, processing and dissemination aspects?

26

98

29

2

45

0

Have you mastered the communication and cooperation formats in your relationship with the faculty and peers; and the individual and group learning formats, with your opinion formulation, substantiation and defending abilities?

25

79

47

19

28

2

Are you proficient in the IT toolkit application in the learning process?

62

95

34

2

4

3

Are you proficient in data mining, IT/ software applications using a variety of sources and materials including printed, digital and web ones?

5

99

70

-3

25

4

Are you able to master the IT tools and software and apply them in the academic education and self-reliant learning process?

18

91

44

8

38

1

Are you confident in applying the application software and online learning resources?

55

97

40

3

5

0

Are you prepared to help a Physical Education teacher in the academic progress data processing and rating using available inputs?

7

88

70

9

23

3

Are you able to apply the IT toolkit to process and output data in the form of tables, charts, diagrams?

35

94

54

4

11

2

Are you able to design an online learning course as required by the technical specifications?

2

89

10

11

88

0

Are you able to use the relevant mathematical data processing tools to process the experimental educational process data with application of the modern IT toolkit?

4

95

80

5

16

0

Are you able to design a web-portfolio and rate its quality?

0

100

100

0

0

0

 

The post-experimental survey data showed progress of the sample in every test question. For example, the question on the online learning course design based on the technical specifications was largely (88%) unclear for the pre-experimental sample; versus the post-experimental situation when most (89%) of the sample was confident of their ability to cope with the course design based on the technical specifications offered by a Physical Education teacher. The model piloting experiment showed high benefits of the permanent self-reliant reflection component of the competency building process, with the reflection giving the means for the teacher to rate, on a timely basis, the academic progress, set educational process goals and correct the individual learning trajectories when necessary. The post-experimental survey data showed progress of the students and underlined special benefits of the web-portfolio tool that gives the means to analyze the individual strong sides and weaknesses and have support from the teacher in the educational process individualization for success with due consideration for the individual preferences.

Conclusion. The new educational model piloting experiment showed its benefits as verified by the students’ progress in mastering and applying the modern IT toolkit in the professional service with effective solutions of the upcoming problems.

References

  1. Manzheley I.V., Chernyakova S.N. Informatsionnye tekhnologii v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov [Information technology in university physical education]. Mater. I Vseros. nauch. konf. smezhdunar. Uchastiem ‘Fizicheskaya kultura, sport, nauka i obrazovanie’ [Physical culture, sports, science and education: Proc. I Rus. sci. conf. with intern.participation]. Churapcha: ChSIPCS publ., 2017, pp. 11-15.
  2. Peshkov A.A., Lubysheva L.I., Peshkova N.V. K voprosu formirovaniya gotovnosti buduschikh spetsialistov k realizatsii sportivno-orientirovannogo fizicheskogo vospitaniya v protsesse professionalnoy podgotovki v vuze (na primere lyzhnykh gonok) [On Formation of Preparedness of Future Experts for Realization of Sports Focused Physical Education within University Vocational Training (on Example of Cross-Country Skiing)]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2011, no. 1, pp. 101-104.
  3. Galimullina E.G., Lyubimova Y.M. Model of Network Communication Between Establishment of Higher Education and School in Terms of Intensification of Practical Orientation of Bachelor's Training of Pedagogical Education. The Social Sciences, no. 10, 2015, pp. 956-964.
  4. Galimullina, E.Z., Lyubimova, E.M. (2013) Тraining students of language on the use of information technologies Recent Trends in Social and Behaviour Sciences. Proc. 2nd International Congress on Interdisciplinary Behavior and Social Sciences ICIBSoS, pp. 417-420.
  5. Ljubimova E.M., Galimullina E.Z. (2014) Development level of independent activity of undergraduates on the basis of Web-technologies. Life Sci J., pp. 485-488.
  6. Ljubimova E.M., Galimullina E.Z., Ibatullin R.R. (2015) The development of university students' self-sufficiency based on interactive technologies by their immersion in the professional activity. International Education Studies. No. 4 (8), pp. 192-199.
  7. Merzon E.E., Ibatullin R.R. Architecture of smart learning courses in higher education. 10th IEEE International Conference on Application of Information and Communication Technologies – AICT (Baku, Azerbaijan, 12-14 October, 2016, pp. 755-758.

Corresponding author: EMLjubimova@kpfu.ru

Abstract

The study analyzes benefits of a new IT-competency building model in application to a modern physical education specialist; and offers the key provisions for the students’ immersion in the relevant learning smart-space with the following key ideas and components: practice-prioritizing educational concept; networking partnership of the university with the general secondary education school system; and smart-space education elements based on the cloud technologies being applied in the online learning course. The article gives an overview and groundings for the smart-space architecture for the IT-competency building in a physical education specialist; and analyzes benefits of the proposed architecture as verified by the model piloting experiment. Objective of the study was to make provisions the IT-competency building in the modern physical education specialists with due regard to their actual professional needs and responsibilities; and assess benefits of the proposed smart-space architecture to secure high efficiency of the learning process. The proposed model architecture was tested in late 2016 on the students majoring in Physical Education and Life Safety at Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University. The model piloting experiment showed its benefits as verified by the students’ progress in the professional competency building domain; with the education curriculum and learning stages within the smart-space architecture of the education specialist training found successful. The smart-space architecture for the IT-competency building in a physical education specialist may be successful only when: includes an educational process frame design and a good action plan for success; secures the students’ immersion in the online smart learning course; and offers well-designed and useful web-portfolios.