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DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILITY OF MASTER’S DEGREE STUDENTS OF PEDAGOGICAL DEPARTMENTS: ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO
L. А. Sirotinina
Mobility is one of the strategic resources of a personality under conditions of current competitive environment and lifelong education. One of the main conditions of the Bologna process is support of the academic mobility of students based on the ECTS system (Unified Credit Transfer System). The use of this principle makes it possible to efficiently use the achievements of each country - participant of the Bologna process, and fully implement the idea of a united Europe.
For the second level of higher education (Master’s program) mobility is the most important and desired quality, which needs to be developed using relevant pedagogical techniques. The importance of mobility development at the level of the Master’s program can be explained by “claims” of students and informed independent choice of a specific educational program in a certain higher educational institution with setting the goal of development of one’s own professional career. In fact, the choice of being a Master’s Degree student is already an element of manifestation of both academic and professional mobility, because when a person becomes a Master’s Degree student, his/her social standing changes (or one’s claims for this social status change).
An electronic portfolio allows a person to create and develop a file of educational and professional competences in an open information environment, giving evidence of individual progress, and allows him/her to present it to different target groups and demonstrate his/her competitive advantages. Higher educational institutions of Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Samara, Moscow, and St. Petersburg have the experience of using different portfolio models at different stages of education for different purposes. Studying the Russian and European experience of using the portfolio and its adaptation to the requirements of the second level of higher education (Master’s program) is important and relevant under the current conditions of modernization of the pedagogical educational system in Russia. However, despite considerable experience in the field of study of portfolio technology by specialists of different scientific schools and areas, we still lack systematic research of the portfolio technology opportunities for support of academic mobility; we are still lacking the systematized domestic and international experience of its use in conditions of an open society and lifelong education; pedagogical conditions of the use of the educational portfolio in the system of preparation of Master’s Degree students of pedagogical departments are not covered to the fullest extent.
As a basic description of the essence and the substantive characteristics of academic mobility, we use the definition of T.M. Tregubova, who defines mobility as “an integrative quality of a person characterizing the ability of a person, who understands the need of lifelong self-education, and who knows how to use it for development of educational, professional and creative potential adapted to changing educational activity conditions”. Mobility is considered to be an “activity of
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the subject of the educational process determined by changing educational environment conditions, the result of which is self-realization of a person in education and profession”. Mobility facilitates the reforming of the current professional education ensuring free movement of a person in the world of education focused on improving the level of life and professional activity of a competitive specialist.
We distinguish and research independency, target-setting and reflection as important personal qualities of a Master’s degree student providing evidence of the opportunities of development of mobility under conditions of an open society. The portfolio technology helps to develop the above-mentioned qualities, because it reflects the artifacts of the scientific and research, practice-oriented preparation of the Master’s degree students of pedagogical departments. Actualization of high professional claims takes place due to parallel learning by the Master’s degree students of several software environments for development of the portfolio and Europass opportunities, in particular, section named EuroCV. At the end of their study the Master’s degree students, if they wish so, load several materials from the individual portfolio using such instruments as Europass (EuroCV, Language Passport, Europass Mobility, Certificate Supplement), which makes is possible to actualize educational and professional interests of students in the conditions of lifelong education, and facilitates development of mobility.
The electronic portfolio of the Master’s Degree Student, together with Europass, will be a useful instrument of the student due to the fact that it encourages mobility, professional development, and helps in employment. Apart from transparency and support of mobility, the electronic portfolio is a means of support of study and building the career of a teacher.
References
1. Гладков Г. И. Болонский процесс / Справка для участников научно-практической
конференции «Университетская политология в России в национальном и европейском контекстах» 10 декабря 2004 г. Источник: URL: http.
www.bologna.mgimo.ru/mgimo.php7catJdH 1 &page=>
2. Трегубова Т. М., Сахиева Р. Г., Масалимова А. Р. и др. Академическая мобильность
студентов высших учебных заведений: отечественный и зарубежный опыт ее
формирования: коллективная монография, Казань: Отечество, 2008. 131 с.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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