Integration of cloud technologies in teaching foreign languages in higher education institutions

Abstract

This study was aimed at summarizing theoretical knowledge of students studying Economics, enhancing the educational process and training skills of independent long-term professional upgrade of students (sustainability training) through the use of an English-taught training program implemented through the use of MS Office 365 cloud services. The variational traits studied were identified: educational motivation, self-confidence, cognitive and creative skills. The study used methods that are recommended for quantitative research, namely: Rasch’s models for measuring academic motivation, methods for determining the level of academic confidence; methods of diagnosis of cognitive reflection and decision making, and a questionnaire to determine the level of creativity of thinking. The results of the diagnostic tests on academic motivation were processed using the Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Model (RUMM-2010) software, and the results of other tests were processed using SPSS 10.0.5., Statistica v. 5.5 A., MathCAD 2000 Pro. It has been found that the problem of integrating cloud technologies into the teaching foreign languages has been of interest of scholars, as the former are gradually becoming a full-fledged educational tool, allowing all institutions to create their own online spaces. In terms of language teaching methods, the used in this study teaching approach proved to create the learning environment helping to deal with the students’ communication and interaction barriers, reluctance to being engaged resulted in the enhanced students’ learning activity, their motivation for learning. This approach addressed the students’ needs in developed logical (critical) thinking and creative tactic to problem-solving, student memory (cognitive component). The integration of cloud (education) services in general proved to increase the efficiency of the learning process.