Russian Universities Embrace Online Courses, Virtual and Augmented Reality, As Education Goes

Speaking at a seminar hosted by National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) last week, Shuhua Liu, Vice Director of the Center for International Education Research at China’s Zhejiang University, admitted that, while they had long been involved in online education, no one had expected it to get such a boost.

With universities around the world switching to distance learning, the focus is increasingly on cutting-edge educational technology that would ensure continuity of teaching. Russia’s premier universities, including those that participate in Project 5-100, have extensive experience building digital environments which they are ready to share. At the request of the Russian Ministry for Science and Higher Education, the Association of Global Universities, which brings together Project 5-100 institutions to coordinate their offline activities and web interaction, has set up a contact center to assist Russian universities in moving online.

The current migration to the Internet, although forced, could yet give a lasting impetus to the digital education market, experts say. Some 65% of the universities reporting to Russia’s Ministry for Science and Higher Education have already shifted instruction online. At the ministry’s suggestion, a list of free online courses has been drawn up to facilitate transition to digital-enabled remote learning. These have been designed by this country’s top universities, including several Project 5-100 institutions, such as HSE, ITMO University, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Tech-nology (MIPT), National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, NUST MISIS, Samara University, St Petersburg Electrotechnical University (ETU “LETI”), St Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), Tomsk State University (TSU), the University of Tyumen and Ural Federal University (UrFU).

Project 5-100 universities‘ distance learning expertise is not limited to crafting online courses. They are also pioneering virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, which both provide for a more exciting learning experience and ensure greater safety, e. g. when doing lab work.