Why AUDEAMUS?

There are several reasons why we have chosen such a name for this site. First, audeamus is a Сonjunctivus Hortativus form of the Latin verb audеo, which can be translated as "let us venture", "let us dare". Second, this word almost entirely replicates (except for the first letter) the title of Gaudeamus, a student hymn popular all over the globe. Third, the initial letters of this word refer to another Latin verb, audio, meaning "to listen to". It is easy to notice that all these three semantic components are unanimously working to implement the central idea of our site, i.e. creation of an innovative education project based on audiolectures developed by leading Russian scholars and teachers.

How Does It Work?

Each author participating in the project has his or her own personal information sections. Part of them can be operated by the authors themselves. For this purpose they can use tools specially developed for this site.

The information in the authors' personal sections is given in two languages, Russian and English. Editing/adding of information can also be done in these two languages; for that there are language-switching elements in the upper section of the Edit/Add form.

To be granted access to your personal sections you must go through the authorisation process first. For that, you should press Login in the upper left-hand corner and type your personal data (login and password) in the drop-down form field. After authorisation, the authors are granted access to their personal sections.

The Biography section contains the authors' biographical data. The Edit option is available in this page. By pressing the proper element a form opens enabling the authors to edit their biographies.

In the Publications section the authors can publish their scholarly works. A publication is added through pressing the proper element and filling in the opened form which contains three sections: the title, the synopsis, and the text of the publication. Each added publication appears on the site as a separate entry in the list. The authors can manage their previous publications by editing or removing them from the section page.

The Interviews section contains interviews with the authors. The interviews are presented as a list with the available Edit and Delete elements for each previously published interview. A new interview can be added using the Add option displayed at the top of the list.

The Photos section contains the authors' photographs. Photos can be added with the help of a special form by choosing the file with the necessary photo on the hard drive, typing the photo's title (optional), and pressing the Add button. Each previously published photograph can be removed by the author, and its title edited. For that, menu elements that pop-up when mousing over the photo must be used.

The FAQ section are a venue for establishing online communication with the visitors of the site. Any concerned visitor is provided with an opportunity to ask any author a question. The author who was asked a question is informed about that by receiving an e-mail notification suggesting him or her to provide an answer. Questions and answers are going to be published in the section as a list arranged in reversed chronological order according to the date of adding a new question. The authors can hide any question from other visitors of the site.

Note: if an author has no wish or opportunity to manage his/her page personally, he/she can entrust any of his/her associates to use the login and password for updating this author's personal information on the site.

Scientific and Educational Value

The integration of the Russian education system into the global education environment suggests modernisation that, among other things, could take into account contemporary European teaching practices. The given practices reflect the dominating "open education" concept, and a wide use of courseware (with the priority of a distance learning platform) is an integral part of this concept. The advantages of this teaching and organisational model are undeniable. The world of knowledge is represented in it as an open, unlimited, dynamic information space. The main party of the education process is a knowledge consumer - an individual in an open search for information, having enough freedom to choose the object, the strategies and the form of learning.

At the same time, in the process of exposure to recent international education guidelines, one should take into account the negative sides of this concept, too, as well as the unrivaled achievements of the Russian pedagogy. Among the top priorities on the way of building a new education system corresponding to national teaching traditions we should note the following ones: the need for preserving the classical three-party academic communication scheme (students - teachers - administrators) and the need for not reducing it to a two-party model (students - administrators/tutors). The role of a teacher (not of a tutor) is important since such factors as authority, values, academic traditions, the cultural and intellectual dialogue between the generations, etc. are preserved in the course of the education process.

An effective device of combining these two key lines should be the creation of a distance learning model based on the use of lecture audiocourses that are structured well enough to fit into the system of multi-component teaching materials. To achieve that, relevant courseware must be developed. In this context, the creation of AUDEAMUS, an informational and educational Web portal, is an important step towards solving the given problems.

If I Liked It

First option. You can add the page russianlectures.spbu.ru to your bookmarks and visit it from time to time to see if there is anything new.

Second option. You can order a double DVD containing 30 sets of teaching materials developed at the Faculty of Philology, St. Petersburg State University, using audiolectures published on this site. The teaching materials comprise the following: the course programme, questions and assignments for each lecture, tests, supporting data as well as reference aids.

Third option. If you are a researcher or a teacher you can write us a letter asking to register you on our site. If our decision is positive, you are granted access to almost all functions of the site. Among other things, you will be able to personally manage your page, add information about yourself, your publications, interviews and so on. You should remember anyway that this site's priority is to make the visitors acquainted with audiolectures, and it is the administrator that can add them to your page. Thus, if you want to have your lecture course published on our site, you must send us its detailed description, and we will organise a studio or a visiting recording of your lectures. In case you have such audiofiles ready, you can send them to us and, if they are done in a proper quality, we will publish them on the site right away.