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Find out moreFrom December 10, 2020 in Russia An experiment to implement a digital educational environment (DEE) in educational institutions has begun. The goal of this project is to modernize the educational process, improve the quality of education, and integrate digital technologies into school learning. The experiment covers various aspects, such as the use of online platforms, electronic textbooks, and interactive resources, creating a more effective and accessible educational environment for students and teachers. The implementation of the DEE promotes the development of digital competencies and skills in schoolchildren, essential for the modern world.
In 2020, the state information system "Modern Digital Educational Environment" (MDEE) was launched in universities, initiating a similar digitalization process. The system is aimed at improving the quality of the educational process and introducing modern technologies into learning. The MDEE provides access to educational resources and facilitates the integration of various electronic educational platforms. This provides students and teachers with new opportunities for interaction and improving the effectiveness of the educational process.
These two digital environments are independent phenomena, and do not constitute a single system, as it might seem at first glance. Each of them is designed to achieve its own unique goals.
Digitalization Plans in "Education"
The goals of digital development of general and vocational education were defined in 2019 as part of the national project "Education". This project includes two main federal areas aimed at achieving the stated goals. The implementation of these projects will significantly improve the quality of education by introducing modern digital technologies and teaching methods.
This project includes the following key aspects:
- Connecting all educational institutions in the country to the Internet (with a speed of at least 100 Mbps for cities and 50 Mbps for villages). This applies to schools, colleges, and universities: the internet must work everywhere.
- The introduction of modern digital technologies into core general education programs: by the end of 2024, this process should affect 25% of schools in 75 regions.
The digital educational environment (DEE) is a set of technical solutions for educational institutions, rather than a single online platform. These solutions are currently being developed. According to the Ministry of Education and Science's plans, the DEE will include a library of verified educational content, a platform for completing educational assignments, a social network, and a videoconferencing system. These elements will create an integrated and convenient learning environment that will improve the quality of education and interaction between participants in the educational process.
In a recent interview, Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov spoke about the introduction of technology into educational programs. Given criticism from parents, teachers, and students regarding the rapid digitalization that has occurred as a result of the pandemic, he emphasized that digital tools will not completely replace traditional education. The focus will be on the harmonious combination of modern technologies and classical methods to ensure high-quality education and meet the needs of all participants in the educational process.The Digital Educational Environment (DEE) represents an important complement to traditional education. It incorporates a domestic videoconferencing system known as Sferum, which has been successfully tested in the Moscow region. This platform leverages the experience and solutions already proven in the Unified State Exam (USE) video surveillance system, ensuring a high level of security and protection against hacker attacks. The DEE aims to create a comfortable environment for interaction between teachers and students, including the possibility of communication between regions. Parents can also participate in parent-teacher meetings online if they are unable to attend in person. A key element of the DEE is a social network, which facilitates the exchange of experiences and interaction between educational participants. Furthermore, the digital environment offers verified electronic educational materials, reviewed by experts and compliant with school standards. These resources help teachers make lessons more engaging and effective, improving the quality of education.
The Minister announced that some of the tools will be integrated into the VKontakte social network. These tools are currently in the development or testing phase.
The full name of the project is "Young Professionals (Improving the Competitiveness of Vocational Education)." One of the key goals of the project is that by 2024, 20% of university students will study individual subjects using resources not only from their university but also from other organizations, including online courses. To achieve this goal, the project aims to provide all students enrolled in higher or additional vocational education programs with access to online courses from various organizations and platforms through a one-stop shop. This will improve the quality of education and prepare students for the demands of the modern labor market.
By the launch of the national project "Education," the online platform "Modern Digital Educational Environment" (MDEE) had already been developed. This project was initiated by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2017, before the ministry was split into two separate entities. The national project "Education" also mentions the DSES, which aims to create individual digital portfolios for students. This task, planned for 2020, is currently being successfully implemented, highlighting the importance of digitalization in the educational process. The DSES is an aggregator of online courses, combining offerings from various platforms and educational institutions. Courses are not hosted directly on the DSES website, but rather on the platforms of the educational institutions that develop and curate them. The main advantage is that users, after registering on the DSES website, can easily find and select suitable courses from an extensive list, while gaining access to educational content from a single portal. This simplifies the learning process and makes it more accessible to everyone.
At the launch of the national project "Education" and the related project "Young Professionals," the System of Digital Educational Services (SDES) already served over 700,000 users and offered over a thousand online courses. Currently, the SDES includes 66 educational platforms, 109 universities, and provides access to over 1,700 courses. This demonstrates the growing interest in online education and its important role in training qualified specialists.
The school "Digital Educational Environment" (DEE) and the university "Modern Digital Educational Environment" (MDEE) are two separate projects that are not directly related. The DEE includes a set of technical solutions aimed at solving various problems in education, while the MDEE is a specific platform for higher education. It is important to note that current programs do not include the use of digital traces of DSE users (schoolchildren) for further accounting in the DSE when these students become university students. This highlights the lack of integration between these systems, which could impact the continuity of the educational process. The digital educational environment (DSE) represents an important complement to traditional education. A key element of the DSE is a domestic videoconferencing system called "Sferum," which has already been successfully tested in the Moscow region. This service utilizes proven solutions based on experience with video surveillance during the Unified State Exam. The system is protected from cyberattacks and hacks, ensuring the security of online interactions between teachers and students, even if they are located in different regions. Furthermore, parents are given the opportunity to participate in parent-teacher meetings online if they are unable to attend in person. A social network, which facilitates interaction between participants in the educational process, is also an important component of the DSE. The third element is electronic, verified educational materials prepared by experts and compliant with modern school standards. Teachers can use these resources to increase engagement in in-person lessons and improve the educational process.
How the coronavirus adjusted plans
The pandemic has had a significant impact on education, forcing schoolchildren, students, and teachers to quickly adapt to digital technologies. In the new realities, the need for high-quality digital educational content has increased. In June 2020, a revision of funding plans for national projects was announced, which also impacted the education sector. Adaptation to digital tools has become necessary to ensure effective learning and improve the quality of the educational process.
Official updated programs have not yet been presented. According to the presidential decree, the new deadline for their adjustment is set for April 1. It is known that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia have tried to separate digital tasks in order to optimize the process of implementing updates to the educational system.
The passport of the new national project "Science and Universities" from the Ministry of Education and Science has been published online. This project combines key initiatives from the previous national project "Science" and aspects of the "Education" project related to higher education institutions. Although the "Science and Universities" project only marginally addresses the digitalization of higher education, it does include a target of 2.9 million people completing continuing education programs, including online courses, by 2024. It also sets the goal of developing the state information system "Modern Digital Educational Environment" as the primary platform for higher and continuing education, which implies further increasing the level of digitalization at universities. Thus, the development of the digital educational system will continue, creating new opportunities for students and educational institutions.
The "Education" national project will remain under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, but its scope will be limited to school education only. Objectives related to higher education institutions and continuing education will be excluded from this project. At the moment, it is unclear when and in what format the new national projects in the field of education will be approved.
What is happening with digital environments now
Plans are subject to change, but the work is actively continuing. Here is what has already been accomplished.
In accordance with the December government decree on the implementation of data processing centers (DPC), schools in certain pilot regions must be provided with high-speed Internet access and the necessary equipment for the effective use of distance learning technologies. In this regard, a "digital school" standard is being developed, which will contain a list of technical requirements for the infrastructure of educational institutions. The Ministry of Education, together with the Ministry of Digital Development, is working on this initiative. An important place in this process is occupied by the tasks of equipping schools, which are included in the framework of the national project "Digital Economy". This is a step toward modernizing education in Russia and creating a high-quality digital environment for students.
In pilot regions, the Ministry, in collaboration with local authorities, will launch an experiment to implement information systems for accessing educational services. The primary entry point to these systems will be the "My School" platform, which is being developed by the Institute for Digital Transformation in Education, a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Education. This initiative aims to improve the quality of education and the accessibility of educational resources for students, in line with modern digitalization requirements in education.
At this time, it is unclear whether the new platform will be developed based on an existing platform with a similar name, "My School Online," or whether an entirely new system will be created. The "My School Online" platform was quickly launched in the spring of 2020 by school textbook publishers, led by the company "Prosveshchenie." This decision was made in response to the need to ensure distance learning during the pandemic. It's important to stay up-to-date with news and updates to understand the changes coming to online education and how they will impact students and teachers.
The platform offers educational materials in electronic format, but the "My School" functionality within the Digital Educational System (DES) is expected to be significantly expanded. On the new platform, students will be able to not only study academic topics but also complete assignments and receive timely feedback from teachers. This will create a more interactive and productive learning environment, promoting better learning.
The system, which uses artificial intelligence technology and analysis of users' digital footprints, is aimed at identifying gaps in students' knowledge and determining their educational interests. This will enable the development of individualized educational trajectories, recommending educational materials that match the needs and interests of each child. This approach promotes more effective learning and improves academic performance, as students gain access to information that is truly important and relevant to their development.
Of all the technical solutions of the Data Processing Center (DPC), the one currently closest to launch is Sferum, a videoconferencing system that is a domestic analogue of services such as Zoom. By the end of 2021, Sferum is expected to be implemented in all schools in 15 regions of Russia. This system will improve the quality of distance learning and provide access to educational resources for students and teachers.
According to the draft resolution, the initial plan was to expand the experiment, including "My School" and other services created by the Center for Public Awareness (CPA), to 14 regions. These regions include the Altai and Perm Krais, Astrakhan, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kemerovo, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Sakhalin, Tyumen, and Chelyabinsk Oblasts, as well as the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. However, the signed document of the Russian Ministry of Education specifies that regions must be selected to participate in the experiment. The Ministry has now approved the procedure for selecting regions.
The "Modern Digital Educational Environment" platform is a universal access point to a variety of resources from various providers. Last year, the ability to log in through a profile on Gosuslugi was introduced, significantly simplifying user access. The personal account features have also been expanded, making interaction with the platform more convenient and efficient. The platform continues to evolve, providing users with the necessary tools for learning and professional development. Users of the Digital Open Certificate System (DOCS) can now create a digital portfolio, storing information about completed courses, received certificates, and acquired skills. The recent announcement by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Alexander Narukavnikov regarding the mass integration of universities into this platform opens up new opportunities. Universities will now be able to add their courses to the DOCS registry, regardless of whether they are hosted on the institution's internal resources or on third-party platforms such as Coursera. This will significantly simplify student access to important information about their educational achievements and expand opportunities for professional growth. Connecting universities to the DOCS system will significantly simplify the integration of courses from other universities and companies into educational programs. The system records which courses students have enrolled in and their performance, enabling effective management of the educational process and tracking of student progress. This solution contributes to improving the quality of education and expanding opportunities for students.
We are open to private proposals, but we must ensure that the proposed methods and content comply with federal state standards. The Center for Educational Systems' (CES) library of verified content and services will consist of two main sections. The first section includes free and publicly available content across the entire school curriculum, organized by grade, topic, and difficulty level to support both students and teachers. This section will include assignments with automatic checking, video materials, and interactive presentations. The second section will feature high-tech additional content from representatives of the EdTech industry, which will be posted in a special "Marketplace" section. All information in this library will undergo expert review to ensure its quality and compliance with standards.
