The Volga region Academy of sports and tourism managed to solve the almost impossible task of transferring the largest sports University completely to a remote format. The University used an already developed system of online pairs, developed a session mechanism that is harmful for fans of cheat sheets, and worked out remote acceptance of documents. Thus, more than three thousand students continue their studies, and applicants are preparing to enter the University. About how the Academy went through total digitalization — in the material "BUSINESS Online".
1,726 APPLICANTS ARE ALREADY READY TO SUBMIT THEIR DOCUMENTS
For the third month, the Volga sports Academy — the largest sports University in the Volga region-has been operating outside its building in Kazan. If before the pandemic, most of the leading athletes who were absent due to training camps or tournaments were studying remotely, now absolutely everyone is studying remotely. "There was no problem for us to go to a remote format —" Yusup Yakubov, the University's rector, told BUSINESS Online in an interview. — It was present before, it is now, and it will be hereafter."
Every day at the end of the day, the rector receives information on attendance. During the period of self-isolation, each faculty registered an increase of 10-15%, and the total attendance of classes at the Academy was a solid 80-85%. "This turnout shows that our students are more or less used to remote work, — he commented. — This is also confirmed by the results of our survey."
In April, the Academy conducted a survey among students (a total of 3,348) about distance learning (hereinafter referred to as up to). 80% rated the system positively, 13% - satisfactorily, and only 7% pointed out obvious shortcomings. When asked to what extent you want to see elements of UP in the educational program further, 16% said that they would like to completely switch to the distance format. Their wish materialized, at least until the start of the next semester.
"We have to finish the year remotely," Yakubov warned. — This is not only about the session, but also about the admission campaign."
In the summer, the Academy will have to meet the bar for the recruitment of thousands of students. The University is going to take it for the third time. 738 budget places and a special system for accepting documents online have been prepared for applicants at once. "We already have experience of a remote admissions campaign last year," the rector said. — The system was used by us for a year to create a database of applicants. Only today we have registered 1,726 applicants to enter the University".


If everything is clear with the acceptance of documents now, then there are still questions about the upcoming tests. First of all, it is the timing of the use. For applicants of all sports profiles of training at the Academy — biology and Russian language. Well, and the third exam, which is passed not in classrooms, but on sports grounds. It is not possible to switch a football or hockey exam to online mode.


"Most likely, we will build a point system," Yakubov shared his plans. — It will be based on the sports performance of the future student: his sports title (master of sports, candidate for master of sports or sports category), tournament achievements (world, European, Russian, regional champion), results of all-Russian regional Olympiads in physical culture and TRP signs. Acceptance of documents will begin on June 20."


"The student not only opens the tab with the test, but also turns on the video feed so that the teacher watches his actions" " the Student not only opens the tab with the test, but also turns on the video feed so that the teacher watches his actions»Photo: Sergey Elagin
SESSION USING ZOOM AND MOODLE
The session of the Volga Academy was no less challenging than the admission campaign. What should I do with exams that include sports standards? How to conduct online tests so that the student does not have the opportunity to spy on the desired answer or write off? How do I set up teacher control?
The Academy found answers to most of the questions thanks to part-time students. They have already passed the session in a remote format. "We have identified two types of interaction for the session," said Almaz Galimov, Vice — rector of the Academy for academic Affairs. — The first is direct communication via the video call app between the teacher and students. The second is online testing, the functionality of which we have embedded in the Moodle system."
Volga Academy has been using Moodle services since 2011. Since the establishment of the University, the rector has made a decision to introduce elements of DO in the educational process for the future. This is the most popular platform for educational organizations, and its main advantage is that it is hybrid: you can add new functions to the software if necessary, which is what the Academy did.
"The platform allowed us to create complex tests with many settings," said Vladimir Suetin, head of the Academy's information technology Department. — You can set the time for the entire test, for specific answers, provide for a change of options, and much more." For example, disable the keyboard so that the answers to tests can only be given with the mouse. If you set up a video link with the teacher so that he can watch the movements of students, this will exclude the possibility of going to the next tab, turn on the search engine and print the necessary answer."
"The student not only opens the tab with the test, but also turns on the video broadcast so that the teacher can observe his actions," Galimov described the process. — It is also limited by a time limit."
Now, Suetin said, the Volga Academy is in talks with Zoom to acquire an educational account. It is planned to integrate it with Moodle in the future. This way the applications will work synchronously, which will simplify the process for students and teachers.
If from a technical point of view there is little that needs improvement, then the content gaps recognized in the Academy are not removed. if from a technical point of view there is little that needs improvement, then the content gaps recognized in the Academy are not removed. photo: Sergey Elagin
STUDENTS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LARGE VOLUME OF " HOMEWORK»
It is not difficult to guess that the Academy's servers have never faced such a load as now. To pass the test, technicians had to increase their disk space. According to Suetin, the system still passed the test. "There are no delays in its work now. We are constantly monitoring to respond in a timely manner if necessary," he said.


If from a technical point of view there is little that needs to be improved, then the Academy recognizes that it was not possible to avoid significant gaps. "The quality of education at home has declined slightly," Galimov said. But not because of the fact that distance education in itself is worse than usual. Many people simply took it too literally and did not take into account the specifics of translating educational programs online."
This, according to the Vice-rector, caused numerous complaints of students-not only in the Volga Academy, but also in the whole country-about the increased volume of homework. "In fact, the volume has not changed," he said. - It's just that teachers can't give the same amount of material during an online class. All the leftovers go to homework."
According to Galimov, in the new conditions, the task of the teacher is changing: he should not be so much a teacher as a moderator of the educational process. In the ocean of information, you need to guide students, point to third — party sources, advise resources-and thus take into account all the features of the PROGRAM.
SPORTS CLASSES HAVE MOVED TO AUTUMN
Many subjects in the Volga Academy are related to practice. There are 7 sports facilities under the leadership of the University, and all of them suspended their work in March. In the usual format, classes are not held and students, in fact, have no place to get marks for meeting the standards.
The Academy solved this problem as follows:all practical subjects were moved to the first semester of the next academic year, taking away the theoretical ones. "Instead of teaching a student how to play the ball in the gym, we ask them to prepare an analysis based on working with sources," Galimov explained. — In other words, sports classes are being converted into methodical ones. When the situation normalizes, we will introduce more practical disciplines into the program."
In this situation, the importance of teachers ' verbal skills increases. Lyubov Botova, whose profile includes artistic and athletic gymnastics, figure skating and acrobatic rock and roll, gave this example in a conversation with our publication: "I have a section of choreography for one of the groups now. Yesterday there was a lesson on the main steps of folk characteristic dance. Normally, such a pair would involve a huge amount of tactile contact. Now you have to connect communication skills, explain in words, show videos."
In addition to couples, the teacher is busy checking graduation papers. Their pre-defense has already been conducted remotely at the Volga Academy. "I don't know if it was more difficult or easier to work remotely. On the one hand, it took a lot of time to organize. The day before the pre-defense, we had to organize test calls in Zoom to make sure that everyone's connection was working or not. On the other hand, it is now possible to conduct additional consultations at a convenient time for everyone," Botova said.
Along with the pre — defense at the Academy, the day of science-a popular annual interuniversity scientific and practical conference, which is traditionally organized by the Volga Academy-has also gone online. On may 6, 300 participants from different cities of Russia made a report in the sections. The video broadcast on the University's YouTube channel was watched by more than 1.2 thousand people.
"Now the pools are closed, so we are not able to perform our duties in full""now the pools are closed, so we are not able to perform our duties in full" Photo: Sergey Elagin
TEAM PREPARATION IS FROZEN