EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ADULTS’ DISTANCE LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Abstract

In the paper the results of the experimental study of the adult distance learning management are suggested. The urgency of the research is based on the tendency towards the aging of population, development of the third age universities network, active implementation of the lifelong learning philosophy, the analysis of recent publications and studies. It is determined that despite the growing popularity of the lifelong learning philosophy, there is a lack of systematic research on the use of ICT for the elderly. In the paper the historical essay on the problems of distance learning for the elderly is offered. The conceptual framework is analyzed. The methodology of the research and features of the target audience selection are described; the specifics of data collection and analysis at different stages of the research are defined. The purpose of the research is determined – to distinguish pedagogical conditions for an effective distance learning introduction into foreign language education of the elderly. The research has been conducted on the basis of the Center for Innovative Education. The emphasis is made on the formation of the target group of participants in the study and their foreign language learning motivation. The stages of data collection and analysis are specified, namely: before the beginning of training, at the stage of the curriculum development, after the start of the first module of the distance learning course, after the completion of the first module of the course, at the end of the course and two months after the course is completed. Detailed results of data analysis for each stage of the research are delivered. The analysis of these data is carried out. The features of the distance course for the elderly and the methodological recommendations on its development are defined. The study has also allowed to confirm the results of the personal and cognitive potential of the elderly and revealed that the ability to learn under certain conditions even increases instead of decreasing. The prospects for further research, adjacent to neurophysiologists’ and neurobiologists’ studies, are suggested. The aforementioned prospects raise the issue of the further scenarios for the use of distance learning platforms for the elderly.

Keywords

• third age University
• distance learning
• foreign language education