DISTANCE EDUCATION IN THE HIGHER SCHOOLS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The main direction of an article is the distance education in higher schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main considerable question is the development of distance education system in Kazakhstan and implementation of distance process at higher schools. Education is the most important element of human capital development for every country in the world. A citizen that receives the required training can develop knowledge and analytical skills, move the national economy forward, form the basis of civil society, educate the next generation, lead an effective government and make important decisions influencing the life of the entire society. Being the most important factor of human development, education has a highly significant and probably essential influence on the achievement of a whole set of social, economic, political and humanitarian goals. These include achieving a level and quality of life adequate to modern civilization, eliminating poverty, ensuring an efficient workforce, reducing social disparities, eliminating gender and racial inequality, reducing criminality, combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, preventing political and ethnic conflicts, promoting sustainable development, strengthening civil sum, education can create the conditions needed for the complete realization of an individual’s capacity. Changes in the approach to education clearly reflect the trends of modern social development. The traditional understanding of education as the organized process of systematically transferring and acquiring knowledge, abilities, skills, characteristics and moral values has changed. Education now is regarded as the development and self-development of an individual in mastering the collective social experience of humanity. Such development is expressed in knowledge, abilities, creative activities and emotional and value-based attitudes towards the world. As such, it is a pre-condition for the actions of the individual and society to develop and protect its own material and spiritual culture. Education as a social phenomenon and process, as a social system and, finally, as a social institution is connected to practically all changes taking place in society. This is even more so with regard to education in societies undergoing profound qualitative transformations, as is the case in Kazakhstani society today. The transitional nature of the processes taking place in the country dominant place of market relations cannot fail to influence the social institution of education as a whole and its subparts in particular. Thus, while considering the impact of education on the development of human capital, one should take into account its relation with the individual and society as a whole. So, what is distance education? Distance learning relies on the use of telecommunications as the primary technology for foreign language instruction. New national, state, and local standards call for all students everywhere to have the opportunity to become proficient in a foreign language. Elementary foreign language programs are growing in response to a need to develop longer sequences of foreign language learning that will enable students to learn in, rather that to learn about, a foreign language and to graduate from high school with an acceptable level of language proficiency. Foreign language education cannot afford to look solely to conventional solutions to overcome the shortage of resources and qualified teachers to realize its goals. The foreign language profession must look to technology as one possible avenue for meeting the goals set forth in the national standards. Distance learning may not be the most appropriate response to every problem; however, it should be considered as an option:

• when school districts cannot find or hire qualified teachers who are proficient in the target language(s);

• when school districts wish to enrich their programs by allowing teachers at several sites to share their expertise;

• when school districts, working in cooperation with the foreign language staff, want to expand the foreign language program to include elementary level courses;

• when school districts wish to expand their foreign language curriculum to include upper-level offerings and/or Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses;

• when school districts wish to enable foreign language instruction in sparsely populated areas, or when there are small numbers of potential foreign language learners.

For distance learning to be a viable alternative to conventional classroom instruction, it must be consistent with current research and practice that focus on developing the learner's language proficiency. Proficiency, that is, what the learner can do with the language rather than what he or she knows about it, is the major principle around which today's foreign language teaching and curricula are organized. Distance learning programs must, therefore, provide a mechanism for a major portion of class time to be devoted to meaningful language use and practice and to authentic communication. National state foreign language standards should be the guiding framework for classes taught at a distance. Every effort should be made to ensure that the learning experience of students in classes using distance learning meets the same measures of quality as that of live on-site classrooms.

The distance learning teacher should be an experienced master teacher with proven proficiency in the target language. The teacher should be certified at the appropriate grade level. He/She should receive training with hands-on practice with the classroom hardware and software. The teacher should also receive training in the effective use of distance learning technologies and in techniques that encourage a high level of interactivity between the teacher and the student, between students at each distance learning site, and between students at different sites. If possible, the distance learning teacher should attempt occasional site visitations.

Each receiving site should have a classroom facilitator whose duties should include monitoring student participation. The facilitator should be a certified teacher preferably with some background in a foreign language. The classroom facilitator should participate in appropriate inservice to prepare her/him for her/his role. A technician, rather that the facilitator, should assume responsibility for the smooth running of the equipment.

Concurrent delivery of instruction to multiple sites does not always provide the interactivity that is essential in foreign language learning. It is preferable that the number of connections and number of students of distance learning classrooms be limited to allow for meaningful practice of interactive instructional activities. Teacher-student interaction is essential to quality foreign language teaching and learning. The distance learning teacher should extend instruction and enhance interactivity via e-mail, phone calls, chat rooms, and/or a class Web site.

Abai University is one of the leading institutes in Central Asia. It is situated in the heart of Almaty City, Kazakhstan. In 2003 Abai University had a record enrollment of more than 23,000 students, mostly from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. The first Kazakh institute of higher learning, which was named Kazakh State University, on September 1, 1928. It had one unique faculty - pedagogical with three separations:

• physico-mathematic

• natural studies

• linguistic studies

It was assumed to create other three faculties: pedagogical, agricultural and medical. They were supposed to work from 1932-1933. On behalf of intensive development of folk education newly opened institute of higher education decided to develop as an independent pedagogical college. Therefore, in 1930 the university was renamed as Kazakh State Pedagogical College (KAZPI), and in 1935 it was renamed as Abai State University and when expanded its fields of studies in 1989 it was named just Abai University as there were more courses than technical education. Today's Abai University started its work in a small one-story building of Vernenskoy as a Women's School. The university was the first Kazakh university to start a distance learning programme in 2001. Today the University is offering more than 12 degree programmes and 11 certificate programmes through DL, which are accessible online in Russian and Kazakh language as well.

To sum up, I would like to say that the distance learning at the higher schools in our country and the international relations with other foreign higher schools have been developing and number of students at higher schools in our country has been increased. Students can get their credit transfer and post graduation programmes afterwards. In today’s transition to innovation and knowledge-based economic system is necessary to develop the quality of education. Today there is a steady trend of integration of Kazakhstan education in the world educational space, thereby increasing the level of educational services in higher education in Kazakhstan.

REFERENCES:

1. International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). ISTE National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Teachers.

2.Kerka, S. (1996). Distance Learning, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. ERIC Digest. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 395 214). Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education.

3.National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. (1999). Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc.

4.Parker, L. and Parker, A. (1997). Making Connections: Tips, Tactics and Strategies That Work for Distance Educators. Stillwater, OK: Parker Consulting, Inc.

5.Sherry, L. (1996). Issues in Distance Learning. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1 (4), 337-365.

6.Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Guidelines for Distance Education: Principles of Good Practice.