DISTANCE LEARNING DEPARTMENT AT TISBI

The Ministry of Social Welfare of the Republic of the Academy of Management "TISBI" are realizing a mutual project aimed at training disable people in accordance with the programs of distance learning technologies for university, colleges and vocational schools.

The Strategic Goal is to provide all disabled people with the possibility to become educated in those fields of higher, professional education that are currently in demand, and to further their employment possibilities, in order to give them the possibility to live independently, have secure earnings and guarantee a good quality of life.

The Principal Goal is to give disabled people a chance to receive higher, professional education by making use of distance learning techniques on the basis of the TISBI DAO (distance asynchronous learning) Internet System. This method is, first and foremost, oriented on disabled people who cannot study at existing educational establishments.

The Project's Creation

The process of training disabled people first began in 1997 at TISBI at the request of the Russian Ministry of Education. It started initially as a group of hearing impaired students who studied for free according to the training programs of the vocational college. This first group of students graduated from the program successfully in 2001. Since then, training, according to the university programs, has begun.

Per the instructions of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Mr. M. Shaimiev, Academy of Management "TISBI" and the Ministry of Social Welfare have, since 2001, realized a mutual project for the training of disabled people in university and vocational college programs by means of distance learning technologies.

The training is being carried out through Internet classes located at rehabilitation centers, where a barrier free environment has been created. A network of these centers, nine in total, are up and running throughout the Republic of Tatarstan and plans are underway to open 18 additional centers next year.

This interagency cooperative experience is unique in itself, as no other educational establishment in this Republic has created a barrier free environment for disabled people.

The Russian Federation Ministry of Education, having analyzed the Academy of Management "TISBI" activity in the field of distant learning of disabled people according to the university and vocational training programs, has designated TISBI as " Federal Pilot Project Area" for further development of educational and social maintenance processes for children with special needs, for making it possible to all people, even for those with limited physical abilities, to get university education (The Russian Federation Ministry of Education Commandment №1823 dated 20.05.2002). The aim of this " Federal Pilot Project Area" is the collaboration of the distant asynchronous training model "school - vocational college - university" for people with limited physical abilities.

What Makes TISBI DAO Special

The TISBI DAO Internet System has been built on the basis of research and analysis of similar systems, that already exist in Russia and internationally (Dozent, Prometheus, etc.) The TISBI DAO Internet system is able to organize all the main components of the academic process, beginning with entrance exams up to compiling course work for a final analysis of the students using the system. The system has got state certification (ROSPATENT Certificate #2002620069) At present, two groups of disabled people, categorized by their level of disability, who would normally not have had the possibility to study at another university, are taking a free course at Academy of Management "TISBI" through an agreement with the Ministry of Social Welfare. Among the first year students are K. Stanislav, a young man with no arms, who has his own Internet site; I. Artjem Vladimirovich, a man in a wheelchair, who is interested in web design and has already had orders via the Internet; and K. Airat Anvarovich, an Afghanistan veteran, who has written a book and opened an Internet shop selling medical equipment for disabled people. This high caliber of students has become the norm in this program.

Academy of Management "TISBI" has 16 places available for each year disabled people who can and want to study. The extension and installation of the first series of the distance asynchronous learning (DAO) Internet system have been carried out at Academy of Management "TISBI". In March 2001, the system successfully passed testing in an Internet class at the Kazan Social Rehabilitation Center for the Learning of Disabled People and has been approved by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The following programs of systematic studies and informational databases of specialties and courses which students can major in and are majoring in with the help of the TISBI DAO Internet System have been developed (in the Russian language): higher professional education (Specialist degree); 021100 - Law; 60400 - Finance and Credit; 061100 - Management; 220400 - Computer and Computer Engineering Software; as well as the Bachelor degrees: 52100 Management and 521600 - Economics.

The existence of a network of educational establishments at the Ministry of Social Welfare and TISBI's system of subsidiary offices, divisions and branches in Tatarstan, Russia and abroad will make it possible to create a wide network of distance learning centers for disabled people with the help of the TISBI DAO Internet System. Some popular educational establishments in Russia have shown interest in TISBI DAO system: Moscow Oil University and Novosibirsk Humanities University have already installed it, Moscow institute specialized in disabled people training and some other institutes have expressed their willingness to purchase it.

The particular benefit of distance learning for disabled people is the possibility to organize their academic experience in an interactive, on-line way. With the help of the TISBI DAO Internet System, a lecturer, who works at Academy of Management "TISBI", can carry out all necessary communication with a group of students or with one student sitting at any remote place. The following types of online teaching can be conducted by a member of the Institute's teaching staff either with a group of students or with one student (as long as they have a computer connected to the Internet) using the DAO Internet System: lectures and seminars; final exams to test comprehension of course material; practical training courses and on-line tutorials; examinations and testing; guidance of students' course papers and diplomas; and supervision of students' research activities. The TISBI DAO Internet System has acquired a very important function for disabled people, namely, the possibility to form a virtual, educational environment of social communication, partnership and cooperation of disabled people. The System implies the possibility of communication between students via the Internet. This is especially important for students required to study at home due to their disabilities.

The TISBI DAO Internet System will make it possible even for those who study at home to feel like members of a community of students by virtue of being in contact with other virtual students like themselves. Anyone who wishes to study via the DAO TISBI Internet System is invited to apply to Mrs. K.N. Novikova, the Minister of Social Welfare of the Republic of Tatarstan or to Academy of Management "TISBI". For more detailed information see: http//www.tisbi.ru - distance learning.