Каталог статей из сборников научных конференций и научных журналов- The Development of a Student’s Value Orientations on Self-education and Self-development in the Internet

E. R. Yuzhaninova Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, assstant professor,

Orenburg State University, Orenburg, Russia

V. V. Moroz Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, professor,

Orenburg State University,

Orenburg, Russia

Any sphere of a human activity is based on its fundamental values. Values are manifested as value orientations of people in this area determining its specific features. The internet is a spacious sphere that reflects the world and contains information almost about anything. Internet possesses its particular value system, which is defined by the authors as axiosphere of the internet. The internet axiosphere is a hierarchical, multidimensional, open, dynamic, multiversion reality. In this space-time value interaction of university educational agents can be organized, that will result in a student’s ascent to the professional, cultural, personal (social and subjective) internet values [1]. The internet axiosphere is a dynamic, innovative part of culture.

It is necessary to find out the original value orientations of students in the Internet so that the Internet opportunities could be fully used by the students for their development and formation. It is also important to consider the ways in which a teacher can facilitate a student’s ascent to the values of education, self-education and self-development in the Internet axiosphere.

To find out the peculiarities of value orientations formation we used the questionnaire designed by the authors of this article [2]. More than 180 students responded to this questionnaire. The survey of the most meaningful students’ activities in the internet was conducted at the Orenburg State University site for two months during 2011–2012. About 2350 students participated in this survey while 95 students wrote the essay “Internet in my life” (in 2015 and 2018). Discussions on how the internet influences such spheres as education, self-education, development and self-development were held. All these helped to get the substantial data during several years. We conducted synchronic and diachronic analysis of students’ value orientations in the Internet axiosphere based on this data, as well as the research of Kiryakova A. V. [3] and Mosienko L. V. [4].

The main goal of these techniques was to determine 1) the students’ value orientations formed in the Internet axiosphere; 2) the degree at which they use the means of the internet and the means of traditional and university culture in their studies and self-studies; 3) the teacher’s opportunities in formation a student’s value orientations on values of education, self-education and self-development in the Internet axiosphere.

During last five years students spend their time “in the phone”, at the computer or laptop rather than watching TV, more often online, watching video, downloading movies and TV programs, music to their mobile phones and players. According to Russian Center of Public Opinion Research, the most active internet users are young people. Due to this survey (2015) 66 % of young people consider the internet influence as positive. Thus, the internet gradually replaces the traditional mass media in students’ society.

It is worth noting that all of the students use internet. Even at elementary school kids start actively surfing the internet. 100 % of students use the internet daily exceeding 1.5 times the average adult Russian (indicator in Russia 63 %). This fact proves that students is the most active group of the internet users and the internet influences this group greatly. This factor cannot but significantly affect a student’s personality.

We noticed that students lack the universal notion of axiological and educational potential of the internet [5]. The students are sure that the internet sphere consists only of 1) entertainment and gaming sites with abundant advertisements; 2) sites containing low quality essays; 3) sites inhuman in nature. At the same time students point out the positive features of the internet axiosphere such as opportunity to find information necessary for the educational problem solving; to make friends with people interested in the same things; to find information for every day problem solving; to organize entertainment; to do what they want; to express themselves.

Let’s consider the values of education, self-education and self-development in the Internet axiosphere and the nature of students value orientations in detail.

Education and self-education. Students themselves highly assess their skills of using the Internet and information technologies for solving educational tasks. However, we believe that students’ self-estimation is far too high and their skills are not sufficient for the work at the special educational and scientific sites. That is why it is vital for a teacher to pay students’ attention to the peculiarity of learning in the electronic educational environment and systems [6].

Students point out that the Internet is being actively used in the educational process of school and especially university: the number of tasks to be done with the use of the Web resources has grown immensely. Unfortunately, we found out that students do not use all the opportunities of the Internet for the purposes of education and self-education, only a few students could list reliable educational websites and portals they use on a regular basis. Very often websites containing tests and essays are perceived by a student as a convenient and valid resource of learning information. While teaching, we more than once noticed that students lack critical thinking while searching for the information, they trust any information in the Internet (when asked: “Where did you get this information? It is a fake”, a puzzled student answers: “It is in the Internet”). Only some students could list and demonstrate their knowledge of the opportunities of the Internet educational resources in their field and only some of them find the original source of information.

We should note that 37 % of students believe that they actively use the opportunities of educational segment of the Web for the purposes of their self-education. Respectively, more than 60 % of students note that they use the educational resources of the Internet “only because they gave to prepare for the exams and not because they like it”. 58 % of students read books online, 37% download at least one textbook on the subject under study. As it was previously mentioned students simply do not know and cannot use other educational opportunities. Only some of the students know about distance learning courses to improve professional skills, learning at virtual academies, opportunities to get another profession via Internet or participate in different training courses.

According to Mosienko L. V. (2012) [4] 21 % of students do not use any opportunity to improve their education such as self-education, additional profession, foreign language courses. As our research shows approximately the same number of students (24 %) never thought of such a chance of self-education in the Internet.

The results of our research prove that there is positive tendency of using the resources of Internet courses and Internet learning to acquire competitive advantage at the labor market. Students are aware of the importance of the further self-education with the use of Internet axiosphere for the professional socialization and successful competition. This is proved by students responses to the question “What will you need the Internet for after graduating the university?” and the correlation connections identified at values comparison (the average positive connection between self-education in the Internet and real-life job). When a teacher highlighted the Internet opportunities for the self-education, 15 % of students completed free learning Internet courses that were not connected with the curriculum. The most popular courses among the students were time-management, goal-setting, and performance improvement courses.

It can be stated that educational services will be of great demand in the nearest future and the segment of distance learning will expand. Thus, there will be no barriers for getting internet education and self-education by young people accustomed to network. We assume it an axiological precondition for the successful education, development and professional growth.

Self-education. It is worth mentioning that many students note that they like the Internet for its opportunities to develop (63 % of respondents), but both male and female students hardly use these opportunities (only 9 % of students are determined to use the Internet resources for self-development). We assume that this fact shows both the demonstration of social desirability phenomenon and ignorance of specific developmental opportunities of the Internet. Besides it can be partially explained by the simplicity of students’ perception of development “if I learned something new, then some changes occurred proving that I am developing”. The received data caused the changes in our teaching methods. We started to: 1) introduce students to the Web infrastructure opportunities for self-development; 2) facilitate students in doing the list of “10 top websites” – the choice of the most useful websites for the students’ specific professional fields and hobbies (scrapbooking, photography, crafts); 3) motivate students to find the opportunities for their self-development depending on their abilities and interests, for example virtual workshops on decorative art; 4) introduce students to different Internet creative practices (Web workshops, creation and presentation of creative products in the Internet, creation of virtual exhibitions of their creative works; 5) visit virtual museum, Louvre, for example.

We should say that 20% of the students experienced new opportunities of the Internet for their development and all of them enjoyed that and wanted to continue their self-development.

Some colleagues may think that the number of students that tried new Internet opportunities for education and development (15 % and 20 % respectively) is too small. However, our aim was to inform and advise students what can be done in the Web and none of them was obliged to work there. That is why the fact that these students achieved the new level of understanding the Internet opportunities for the self-education and self-development is a great success for us.

The research shows that the internet axiosphere greatly influences the way the system of students’ beliefs, notions, values and world outlook is formed. The internet axiosphere is the field and means of students’ potential development, self-realization and self-determination. The internet axiosphere greatly influences the nature of university educational process.

Our research revealed the ambiguity of opinions concerning the given phenomenon from nihilistic-destructive to positive-productive. The results of the research demonstrate that the internet axiosphere can promote successful education and self-education due to the use of “teacher-student-internet” interaction opportunities [7]. It contributes to students’ value self-determination, value system development, vital force disclosure, world comprehension change, personal being and behaviour meaning finding.

Bibliography

1.       Yuzhaninova, E.R. Axiosphere of the Internet and its morphology // Bulletin of the Orenburg State University. - 2013. - No. 1. - P. 80-86.

2.       Yuzhaninova, E.R. Value self-determination of a university student in the Internet axiosphere: a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences / Orenburg State University. Orenburg, 2015. -  P. 380

3.       Kiriakova, A.V. Regularities of the development of the axiological potential of a student's personality // International Journal of Experimental Education. - 2010. - No. 11. - P. 110-113.

4.       Mosienko, L.V. Value self-determination of students in the space of the university youth subculture / thesis abstract for the degree of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences / Orenburg State University. Orenburg, 2012. - 40 p.

5.       Moroz, V. V. Axiological resource of using information technologies for the development of students' creativity // Bulletin of the Orenburg State University, 2015. - No. 1, January. - P. 53-59.

6.       Yuzhaninova, E.R. Value self-determination of a university student in the Internet axiosphere as a pedagogical problem // Bulletin of the Orenburg State University. - 2013. - No. 2. - P. 288-293.

7.       Moroz, V.V. Features of the resonant creative-value interaction of the "teacher-student-group" in the competence-oriented educational environment of the university // Society: sociology, psychology, pedagogics, 2016. - No. 7. - P. 51-53.