Use of LMS Moodle in the process of cadets’ self-study in foreign language

Outline of the unresolved issues brought up in the article. Despite the numerous findings on the problem of incorporating information and technology into self-study; methodological aspects, effective forms and strategies of organizing and conducting self-study for cadets of military higher education institutions with the use of information technology requires additional study.

Aim of the research is to analyze the specifics of organizing self-study and suggest ways and means to efficiently implement the capabilities of the LMS Moodle as a tool for future officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to acquire foreign language communicative competence.

Results and discussion. We fully agree with the definition of N.V. Yahelska [10], who considers self-study as a form of organization and implementation of educational and cognitive activities, which is controlled by the teacher or the student, in accordance with the curriculum and individual needs in classroom or extracurricular activities aimed at acquiring professional knowledge and skills, as well as for self-improvement. According to M.S. Antoniuk [2] self-study in a higher education institution is an integral part of the educational process, a method of learning fostering reception of educational and cognitive activities, a system of targeted standardized educational activities with planned types and forms of assessment. We share the beliefs of scientists who regard self study as one of the most important elements of the educational process, which is a synergy of different types of individual and collective learning activities that take place in classroom and during extracurricular hours, without the presence of a teacher or under his or her guidance [4; 5; 10].

Among the functions of self-study it is expedient to single out the following:

- educational (the ability to process resources, which leads to a deeper understanding of previously acquired knowledge);

- cognitive (acquiring new knowledge, expanding the mindset);

- corrective (contemplating over the latest approaches, categories, theories, concepts);

- stimulating (such an organization of self-study that brings satisfaction from the results of cognitive activity);

- didactic (aimed at forming such qualities as responsibility, purposefulness, will, discipline;

- cultivating (which aims to develop autonomy, creativity, research skills)[4].

An indispensable condition for the implementation of self-study is the presence of motivation and effective organization by the teacher. There are such forms of self-study as individual, group and frontal; it can be conducted in a classroom or be extracurricular. When organizing independent work, the teacher is guided primarily by the content of the discipline, the degree of cadets' training and their level of education. Self-study is designed to help cadets fully complete the foreign language course program of instruction and to acquire and develop skills and new knowledge in a foreign language. Such documents as the curriculum, syllabus and methodical recommendations are key in organizing self-study for cadets of higher educational institutions.

Nowadays, learning which occurs in the information and communications environment, incorporating modern technologies of distance and e learning are becoming more widespread in educational institutions of Ukraine [3]. Therefore, when organizing effective self-study, it is advisable to use information and communications resources, namely multimedia and computer classes with access to the Internet, educational multimedia materials (movies, videos, audio recordings, presentations), authentic and adapted educational methodological literature. The ability of cadets to perform self-study will be optimized by organizing it as a holistic system of well-thought-out and methodically prepared educational and developmental environment using real and virtual tools. The choice of these tools is determined by the purpose and objectives of teaching a foreign language in a military institution and the initial level of cadets' training/language competency.

Domestic educational content follows the global trends aimed at accessibility and flexibility of education. In particular, the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy, along with traditional learning technologies, has incorporated e-learning initiatives. This approach to learning involves both direct contact and online classes, among others, on the platform of Moodle, the use of which is aimed at supporting the educational process.

Moodle or (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment), belongs within the category of learning management systems (LMS) and course management systems (CMS). Moodle is a virtual learning environment (VLE), i.e. a platform for learning, which provides those who teach and those who learn with a comprehensive set of tools for computer-based learning. Among its the advantages are the ability to install educational resources (training materials), provide access to resources and manage them; promote interaction between participants of the educational process in the form of Internet conferences, forums, discussions, and the exchange of messages, which may include, tasks for students, comments on tasks, feedback and assessment [1].

The use of these system technologies allows cadets to build their own strategy to study the discipline and helps not only to acquire knowledge, skills and abilities, but also to form a certain structure of personal qualities. Research on the formation of professional competence of future officers by means of network technologies has allowed to establish that introduction of the educational and methodical complex containing distance courses developed by means of Moodle with use of the modular approach, representation of knowledge as dynamic, multimodal structure contributes to experience of independent acquisition and renewal of professional knowledge, personal involvement in this process and responsibility for it [7].

The Moodle environment provides cadets with:

- access to educational materials, testing tools;

- tools for group work (Wiki, forum, chat, seminar, webinar);

- the ability to view the results of the distance learning course;

- the ability to view test results;

- the ability to communicate through personal messages, forum, chat;

- the ability to upload files with completed tasks;

- the ability to use reminders about events in the course [8].

Teachers can:

- use tools for the development of author's distance learning courses;

- upload training materials in .doc, .odt, .html, .pdf formats, as well as video, audio and presentation materials in various formats and through additional plug-ins;

- add various elements of the course;

- make modifications of educational materials;

- use different types of tests;

- automatically generate tests;

- automate the process of assessment, view reports on cadets performance and reports on which tasks have been completed;

- use diverse software for distance learning.

The spectrum of interactive elements, which are based on interaction and communication, can be divided into two categories, which indicate the purpose of the element in the learning process:

1. Elements of joint activities, namely the Glossary, Wiki, Forum, etc., which provide tasks aimed at organizing cooperation and collaboration for cadets and teachers' communication aimed at formation of new knowledge, skills and abilities. Assessing the implementation of such elements is possible, but for the most part not pedagogically effective.

2. Tools for assessment and evaluation (Tasks, Test, Lecture, etc.). This category of interactive elements aims to adequately reflect the level of knowledge and skills cadets have gained.

Modular learning is carried out on the basis of a flexible approach to determine the sequence of presenting the material, and the module itself is defined as a holistic structure that combines educational content and technology to master it [9]. An important criterion for constructing the module is the structuring of the cadet's activities within the stages in which knowledge acquisition occurs: perception, understanding, comprehension, memorization, application, generalization, systematization [8].

Moodle offers an ample number of activities and resources through which learners can acquire or practice learning material or be subsequently assessed and evaluated. A resource is an item that supports learning, for example, a file, a video or link to a website. A resource unlike an activity is static; that means the learner can merely read or look at it, but not participate. An overview of the most commonly used resources and activities is provided in table 1.

Table 1

The choice of this system is quite conscious, as its settings allow you to adapt each course not only to the specifics of a particular discipline, but also to the requirements of the teacher and the needs of the cadets, who with the help of this platform can build a comfortable learning trajectory. Let us consider the features of the organization of self-study in the learning management system Moodle using as an example the "Distance Foreign Language Course" (DFLC). It was created based on the principles of an electronic textbook design, suggested by T.I. Koval [6].

The course consists of 14 modules. Each module has a unified structure to facilitate the navigation process for cadets, and comprises entrance and final tests to determine the individual learning trajectory.

Pilot testing and approbation confirmed its effectiveness and allowed for identification of a number of advantages over traditional textbooks and audio recordings:

- Activating the learning process through dialogue and interactivity (automatic checking of tests and quizes, unlimited number of attempts for cadets to practice, after which the program will report the correct answers, the use of sound keys, preparation of a report on the work done and communication with the teacher via e mail, forums, chats);

- Enabling individualization of learning (the ability to independently determine the sequence of processing cycles of the course and the number of exercises, the use of prompts and supports, an unlimited number of attempts to make audio recordings, do additional exercises;

- Opportunities for planning, self control, self-analysis and reflection of their own learning activities;

- Enhanced visual and aural support (use of video phonograms, pictures and audio recordings, ppt presentations, YouTube videos);

- Increasing interest and motivation.

Each element of the course, such as an exercise, task, glossary, text, grammar presentation, audio or video piece etc., can be rendered in separate e-documents connected within a distance learning system. DFLC comprises such elements as glossary, presentation of grammatical material (various forms of rendering), tests and tasks for assessment, complementary media materials, chat, forum, etc. A wide array of exercises is provided to develop and improve reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. The use of media optimizes the visualization and perception of educational material. Interactive elements such as tests and tasks with nested answers, multiple choice, identifying missing words, dragging in the text, dragging to the picture, etc. are designed to activate the mental activity of cadets, as well as serve as a means of assessment and self-assessment. The quiz is the main means of assessing cadets' progress, which allows the teacher to first form a bank of test questions and set different parameters (time, place and duration of testing, number of attempts, number of points for tasks completed, show or not show cadets the correct answers, etc.). Glossary allows to create and use translations or/and definitions of various terms and abbreviations. The teacher can insert translation or definitions or have cadets do it, monitoring and assessing it. Cadets are given convenient glossary search tools. The terms available in the glossary can be highlighted in color and by clicking on them, cadets are referred to articles on the respective terms. Assignment means that cadets are to complete a certain written task (abstract, project, report, letter, e-mail, presentation etc.). On completion cadets upload their works to the server as a file and the teacher will evaluate them and provide feedback or even post the writing for everyone on the course to see and comment on it. It also includes a list of hyperlinks to additional exercises on the Internet (More Exercises) and recommendations for use of the (Help) program. The structural element of the representation of grammatical material is intended to cover topics on grammar. Without a doubt, theoretical material on any grammatical structure is easily accessible to all search engine users, and one can do without distance learning technology. Moodle, however, allows presentation of the content on several different pages in various formats, for example, in the form of video explanations from YouTube, visual tables and figures, where the desired topic is concisely structured, short descriptions with detailed analysis of typical examples are provided, and exercises to practice and consolidate educational material are given. A correct answer to a question can lead to transition to the next page of the topic or content. One can work on the topic at discrete intervals, and there is a possibility to continue from the place where one previously stopped. To ensure better perception of the material, it is divided into text pages one by one on the screen, which does not require excessive scrolling. To make comprehension from the computer screen easier, texts are offered in different fonts - courier, underline, bold and; fonts can be of different colors and are be used to highlight examples, notes, or remarks, which improves concentration on selected objects. However, it is advisable to use all the elements sensibly in order to not to overload the learning material. Cadets must go through theoretical material and "consolidate" or test themselves by doing practical exercises. In case of the correct answer there is a transition to the next question, otherwise he or she is forced to return to the previous point again. This approach will allow cadets to process theoretical material at the appropriate level, and the teacher will be able to track what part each cadet has passed and his results.

Conclusions and research perspectives. It has been determined that self-study by cadets in the process of mastering a foreign language helps to obtain necessary information, acquire important skills, namely to independently analyze foreign language professionally oriented information, effectively evaluate, use input data for optimal combat tasks completion and communicate in a foreign language. The article demonstrates that cadets' level of readiness for self-study increases when it is organized as a holistic system created on the basis of a methodically organized educational information environment. The Moodle LMS is an open learning management system that implements the philosophy of "pedagogy of social constructivism", focused primarily on the organization of interaction between teacher and cadets. It can be stated that by practicing activities designed in Moodle significantly enhances the effectiveness of learning, fosters perception of educational material and serves as a powerful incentive to learn a foreign language. Prospects for further research are envisioned in examining strategies on how to efficiently implement information and communication technologies in the process of learning a foreign language.

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