MOODLE-BASED ONLINE COURSE ON TRAINING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: PECULIARITY OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Due to the proliferation of advanced information technologies and overall digitalization in the post-Covid period, the education system is currently subjected to drastic changes, which in their turn predetermine a new area of theoretical and practical research investigating the issues of distance learning similarly referred to as online learning, e-learning, Web-based training. The present paper reveals the role of digital pedagogy in the modern educational process, evaluates the effectiveness of the most popular learning platform in Russia - the learning management system - Moodle. The brief analysis of the existing online RFL (Russian as a Foreign Language) courses shows a great discrepancy between the insufficient offer and increasing demand for such products in the Chinese educational market. The author describes the experience of the Siberian Federal University in the implementation of the online course “Business Russian” in the educational space of the PRC, featuring the core elements of the course design such as objectives stated, resources used, forms of assessment suggested, as well as the demands and the requirements to the flexible all-in-one approach to Moodle course delivery. The work also provides the interpretation of the poll results, which provide valuable insights into the impressions and the opinions of the students from different countries who have already taken the course.