Network Class of Belogorye: A Modern Educational Portal for Digital Learning and Collaboration

INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL PORTAL
"NETWORK CLASS OF BELOGORYE"

In the modern context, due to the implementation of documents such as the Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation," the professional standard "Teacher," and the Federal State Educational Standard, new requirements have emerged for the modern educator — a high level of information and communication competence (ICT competence) and proficiency in modern information technologies.

According to the Federal State Educational Standard, information and communication competence of a teacher and a student is understood as follows:

• Professional (for teachers) — the ability, capability, and readiness to solve professional tasks using commonly applied information technologies in their professional field;

• Academic (for students) — the ability, capability, and readiness to solve academic tasks in a qualified manner using information and communication technologies.

One of the tools for implementing information technologies and using ICT in classes and extracurricular time can be internet resources.

The informational and educational portal "Network Class of Belogorye" was created to organize e-learning and apply distance educational technologies in the educational process, as well as to exchange advanced pedagogical practices developed by teachers.

Users of the "Network Class of Belogorye" portal include not only teaching staff and students, but also parents of students and university and college students in the Belgorod region with a pedagogical focus.

To organize e-learning, apply distance educational technologies, and exchange digital educational resources, the portal features the following sections:

• "Material Library", which hosts electronic educational resources developed by teachers and uploaded to the portal. These resources undergo a three-stage expert review and can be used by any teacher during lessons or studied independently by any student. The module allows resource searches using tools familiar to teachers. Currently, the library contains approximately 100 electronic educational resources per subject, and new resources are added daily.

• "Virtual Classroom", where teachers create virtual lessons consisting of theoretical content, practical exercises, tests created using portal tools, discussion forums, and distance courses (a system of virtual lessons) that can be studied by students temporarily unable to attend school or those seeking additional or advanced knowledge in subjects.

• "Virtual Laboratory", where teachers create student groups to carry out project work on the portal, with the ability to collaboratively edit a single document in Microsoft Office Web App and discuss emerging issues on a forum.

• "Editors", which include graphic, video, and audio editors as well as office applications for teachers to create electronic educational resources (this makes the portal unique in Russia and abroad).

• "Forum", which provides a space for teachers and students to discuss modern education issues, form communities based on educational interests, and more.

• "Survey", which allows for the creation of questions to quickly collect information on a given topic.

Registered students can independently study any electronic educational resources, distance lessons, and virtual courses, take tests (the results of which are recorded in the teacher’s rating journal), and participate in the discussion of educational materials on the portal's forums. Unregistered users can view any materials on the portal, but cannot download them, take tests, or participate in discussions.

Currently, the portal contains about 800 electronic educational resources created by teachers of the Belgorod region, methodologists, and instructors of the Belgorod Institute for the Development of Education (OGAOUDPO BelIRO).

Each day, approximately 350 teachers access the portal. In April, about 5,000 people visited the portal; in May — around 6,000; and in June — more than 3,500 users.

At present, about 500 teachers from the Belgorod region have been trained to work with the portal. This training is ongoing.

The "Network Class of Belogorye" informational and educational portal is a modern tool for implementing information technologies in the educational process.