The Development of Distance Education in the Russian Federation and the Former Soviet Union

Distance education in the present Russian Federation and former Soviet Union has a long tradition that prevails to this day. The majority of students in Russia are enrolled in distance learning programs. The numbers indicate the existence of a well-established system for distance education, of which little is known in Western literature. A review of distance education research in the Anglo-American sphere showed that within the past 10 years not a single article dealing with the Russian system was published. Consequently, within international DE research Russia remains uncharted territory. The following explorative study introduces the educational and tertiary educational system and presents current statistical data while emphasizing the historical perspective to further describe how the distance education system is embedded therein. In order to discuss current practice in this field, one of the biggest higher distance education institutions in Moscow with approximately 110,000 students is used as an example.

ISSN 1492-3831 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Zawacki-Richter, O. & Kourotchkina, A. (2012). The Development of Distance Education in the Russian Federation and the Former Soviet Union. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning,13(3), 165-184. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v13i3.1165 Résumé de l'article Distance education in the present Russian Federation and former Soviet Union has a long tradition that prevails to this day. The majority of students in Russia are enrolled in distance learning programs. The numbers indicate the existence of a well-established system for distance education, of which little is known in Western literature. A review of distance education research in the Anglo-American sphere showed that within the past 10 years not a single article dealing with the Russian system was published. Consequently, within international DE research Russia remains uncharted territory. The following explorative study introduces the educational and tertiary educational system and presents current statistical data while emphasizing the historical perspective to further describe how the distance education system is embedded therein. In order to discuss current practice in this field, one of the biggest higher distance education institutions in Moscow with approximately 110,000 students is used as an example.

Introduction
The Russian Federation has developed an elaborate distance education system with a long tradition dating back to the October Revolution. More than half of the total number of approximately 7.4 million enrolled students is registered in distance education programs. The history of the Russian higher education system is characterized by an enormous structural change, which has been procured by ideological ambitions directed towards the qualification of citizens who enjoyed only little access to higher education, yet at the same time it has led to problems regarding the quality of educational opportunities within distance education. Today universities invest in the development of modern online distance education, allowing for flexible study, independent of time and place.
Throughout the Western world, particularly among Anglo-American and European scientists, only little is known about this system. One reason might be the language barrier; Russian scientists rarely publish papers written in English and thus remain internationally This article aims at shedding light on the Russian higher education system in general and the distance education system in particular. The first part of this paper deals with the historical development of distance education in Russia and provides some background knowledge. The second part then explores the Russian higher education system, focusing on its particular structures, including the different forms of higher education institutions and modes of study in reference to current statistics.
In order to assess the different forms of study, the different types of distance education, the regulatory framework, and higher education statistics as well as various databases of the Russian government were analyzed in addition to internet-based research. Further information predicates on interviews, which have been conducted throughout the summer of 2010 at a large distance education institution counting more than 110,000 students: The Moscow State University for Economics, Statistics and Informatics in Moscow (MESI, МЭСИ). Selected results from the case study of MESI were used to illustrate the structure of the Russian higher education system and its current practices regarding distance education services. Following thorough research on the leading Russian distance education institutions, which possess a long tradition in distance education and e-learning and thus also become internationally visible, MESI was selected as an example for good practice in this field.
MESI was founded in 1932 and is a member of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). MESI further represents Russia in the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL) and holds international importance as it is interconnected with universities in France, Italy, and the Netherlands via double-degree-programs.
MESI also publishes one of the leading journals of e-learning and distance education research in Russia. In the ranking of Russia's best business schools, MESI takes 5th place. Many evening schools ("evening education") were founded around the same time (Rosen, Gardner, & Keppel, 1965, p. 3).
During Soviet times, the correspondence and evening schools were incorporated into the public educational system and expanded nationwide. Shortly after the October Revolution, the Communist Party demanded in its manifesto from 1919 financial support from the government to promote the "self-education and self-development" of workers and peasants, following its ideological ambitions to elevate the educational standards of the proletariat.
Three years later in 1922, a government committee for the advancement of self-education was established, which was also responsible for organizing a nationwide correspondence education system.
Various educational institutions for self-education were established thereafter, including the "Labour Faculty" (рабочий факультет, abbreviated as Рабфак -Rabfak), in which workers and peasants ages 16 and up were prepared for higher education studies: […] hundreds of Rabfaks enrolled several hundred thousand adults. Rabfaks were preparatory faculties or departments, located in higher educational institutions, providing accelerated day, evening, and correspondence courses for workers and peasants lacking sufficient learning to benefit from higher education. (Rosen, Gardner, & Keppel, 1965, p.4) These higher education opportunities can be regarded as a preliminary stage of distance education. As full-time study the schooling lasted three years; part-time or evening students studied four years. The participants received a national stipend and their study time was partly credited for the hours they worked in the company. During the academic year of 1925-26, 40% of all freshmen were graduates from Rabfaks (Soviet Encyclopaedia, 1967-78). However, with the development of the general education system during the 1930s the Rabfaks were quickly dissolved (cf. Egorov, Vendrovsky, & Nikandrow, 2000).
In 1924, several broadcast universities for workers and peasants were established. The courses were broadcast via radio (e.g., in science of education, social sciences, engineering, radio technologies, agricultural sciences) and contained lessons ranging from 20 to 30 hours. After the students had listened to the lessons, they could participate in a written examination, which had to be turned in to the broadcast university for grading. However, the educational standards did not reach those of regular universities. Consequently, the broadcast universities never became part of the officially accredited educational system.  (Rosen, Gardner, & Keppel, 1965, p. 6) The five-year-plans for the economic development of the USSR, which started in 1926, demanded a high number of qualified specialists, which the common education system failed to "produce." Therefore, the correspondence study opportunities were greatly expanded.
With the beginning of the 1930s, a network of correspondence education institutions and technical schools (professional schools) was established, particularly with regard to heavy industry workers and their education on factory sites.
While prior to 1929, distance education programs had been designed as mere self-study courses, in which the students had only little or irregular contact with teachers, the development of distance education in the following years was characterized by alternating distance and presence phases, which can be compared to today's format of blended learning.
Nickolas de Witt, member of the Russian Research Centre at Harvard University, described the system of the different study forms as follows: The three basic types of instruction programs offered by Soviet higher educational establishments are: regular day, or full-time study; part-time evening; and part-time extension-correspondence programs. Attempts to equate these programs with particular institutes produce a good deal of confusion. (de Witt, 1961, p. 229) In addition to that, a fourth form, the so-called "Externat" was established, in which students are not obligated to attend the university at all; instead, they "merely" have to pass the final exams. In 1951, the Externat was abrogated, only to be reintroduced shortly thereafter.
The structure of these various study modes has essentially remained the same to this day.
Between 1940 and 1959, the number of part-time students enrolled in distance education courses increased by 4.5 times, while the number of on-campus students doubled. More than half of all students studied part time: "In the fall of 1960, of the total 2,396,000 higher education students, 1,240,000, or 51.7%, were enrolled in evening or extension-correspondence programs" (de Witt, 1961, p. 231). In 1959, article 121 of the Russian constitution was changed and the new version emphasized the right of the Russian population to education.
In order to secure that right, evening and distance education courses had to be further developed.
Against the background of these developments, Otto Peters, founding president of the Fer- 170 nUniversität in Hagen, Germany, presented a study in 1967, dealing with "Distance Education at Higher Education Institutions in the Soviet Union." He declares that "the high percentage of distance education students allows for the conclusion that higher education in the Soviet Union underwent structural changes, which are unprecedented in the history of higher education" (Peters, 1967, p. 9).
Unfortunately, the enormous expansion of distance education proceeded at the expense of its quality: "In their resolution from September 10th, 1966, the CPSU central committee and the USSR's Council of Ministers listed the distance education system among problems, which have been solved insufficiently so far" (Peters, 1967, p.11). Despite the efforts to prevent distance education institutions from becoming second-class schools (e.g., equal appointments to professorships), the general problem of lacking quality within distance education could not be solved. The OECD report (1999) Tertiary Education and Research in the Russian Federation criticizes the suitability of the study material for self-study: "There is little evidence of any kind of instructional design and, in some cases, the material provided is barely readable because of poor quality reproduction" (p. 76). It is further stated: "Much of the material as it stands does not really enable independent study by the student" (p.79).
Due to the development of online education, many higher education institutions distance themselves from traditional correspondence studies and invest in modern distance education. The following section illustrates these latest developments in more detail after the Russian higher education system is described in general.

Higher Education in the Russian Federation
Organization of the Educational System The educational system of the Russian Federation is divided into four segments: 1 • preschool education (дошкольное образование); • general education (общее образование); • professional education (профессиональное образование); and • continuing education (дополнительное образование).
The primary professional education corresponds with the vocational education on level 3B as defined by the ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) of UNESCO.
The mid-level professional education is classified as mixed secondary and tertiary education, which can also include practice-related study courses at academies and institutions (level 3B through 5B).
The higher professional education equals tertiary higher education below the doctorate (level 5A), and the postgraduate professional education equals tertiary education as a research qualification (doctorate, habilitation; level 6).
Upon completion of a two-year upper school (level 3A), students receive university entrance qualification after passing the national examination (EGE) (ЕГЭ -единый государственный экзамен), the general national examination which is since 2009 counted at the same time as the final examination for middle schools and as the entrance examination for higher education institutions in the whole of Russia, the mid-level (full) general education (среднее (полное) общее образование). The university entrance qualification can alternatively be received upon completion of the mid-level professional education (level 5B). In the latter case, students study fewer semesters if they enrol in comparable study courses.
Like many other countries Russia joined the Bologna Accord and has started to adapt to bachelor and master degrees 2 . However, some fields of study, especially the natural, technical, and medical sciences maintained the traditional diploma study courses. Within humanities, similar transitional regulations apply and at some universities students still enrol in traditional diploma study courses. Students also have the possibility to receive an "incomplete higher education" (неполное высшее образование) degree after a minimum of two years of study.

Forms of Higher Education Institutions
In conformity with higher school laws, the following forms exist: National research institutions with special status, universities, academies, and institutes.

National research universities/institutions with special status.
In 2009 they are exempt from obligatory educational standards that otherwise apply. They are further authorized to conduct entry examinations in order to select their students.
In 2008

Academies and institutes.
These forms of higher education offer studies and continuing education courses in a specific professional field (e.g., academies for art or architecture, institutes for foreign languages etc.).

Modes of Study
The current modes of study within the Russian Federation are statutory regulated and divided into four forms.
• On-campus/contact study (очное обучение): Students attend mandatory face-to-face seminars, usually 27-36 hours a week; the maximum workload does not exceed 54 hours a week (including face-to-face seminars, independent study, papers etc.).
• Evening study (очно-заочное обучение): combination of face-to-face and distance study; students attend evening classes (after 6.00 pm) at the university three or four times a week, usually 16 hours a week. study periods. Over the course of the academic year the students attend a face-to-face period (max. 200 hours), which is usually divided into two periods. Evening and correspondence students can prolong the standard period of study for one year.
• Externat (экстернат): independent study. The students independently control their learning process and the period of study. They merely take examinations at the universities.
The different Russian definitions of the concept of distance education and its various forms complicate the methodological discussion at this point since they do not transfer to the definitions that dominate the German or Anglo-American literature. Rosen, Gardner, and Keppel (1965)   Within the Russian literature the term distance education is similarly discussed but conceptually isolated from the older term correspondence education (cf. Ovsyannikov & Gustyr, 2001). This distinction is for example adopted by the Russian journal Open Education Excursus: E-learning -"modern" distance education at MESI.
When it comes to introducing new media for teaching and learning, the university MESI takes on a pioneering role among Russia's higher education institutions. As early as 1992, MESI established computer-based learning programs and computer-mediated communication. Today, MESI is equipped with an exemplary educational technology infrastructure (learning and campus management systems), which can even be accessed via mobile devices. MESI further established a virtual library, providing various literature and study material. In order to support the teaching and learning processes, the full range of modern media is employed, varying between print-based asynchronous communication and support of students in online conferences using social software (Web 2.0 tools like wikis or blogs), lectures that are broadcast to the 37 regional centers via video-conference-systems, This specific support infrastructure simultaneously serves as a tool for teachers and tutors to design and perform online courses. In addition to that, MESI introduced an incentive system that encourages teachers to use a variety of internet-based communication tools, thus enforcing the participation of tutors in online teaching. Those who pursue the aforementioned teaching methods on a regular basis receive up to 30% pay improvement. Other bonus programs apply to research and its affiliation with research results in the field of elearning and distance education research, especially with regard to its practical usability in online instruction.

Higher Education Statistics
In 2006, the Russian Federation invested 3.9% of its gross national product in its educational system, 0.8% thereof was invested in the system of tertiary education (OECD, 2009).
By way of comparison, the average investment in the educational system within the OECD amounts to 5.3%, the EU 1.9 to 5.4% and 1.3% per higher educational branch respectively.
In All state-owned higher education institutions provide a certain number of state-financed study places. The number of such places is determined annually for each university and may differ greatly depending on the subject studied. Since 2009, the students are selected only on the basis of the EGE. These study places are free of charge and the students receive an additional monthly stipend (approx. 1,100 RUB/28 EUR). At MESI, 38% of all registered students receive financial support from the government. The national institutions are moreover entitled to offer additional study places in exchange for tuition. The universities decide independently how much tuition is charged, and the specific amount may again differ greatly depending on the subject studied.
Although the independently operated institutions also occupy a considerable section of higher education, few students study there (17% in 2008-2009). Yet the number of students and families in Russia willing to pay for education continuously increases and in 2009, 63% of all freshmen registered for courses subject to charge. 7 7 ФЗ «О высшем и послевузовском профессиональном образовании» №125 от 22.08.1996 (с изм. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Remarkably, the average number of face-to-face students over the past years has moved below 50% (Table 1). The different forms of distance education have gained currency in both the state-owned and independently operated institutions alike. The number of correspondence students at private institutions is even higher: In 2009-10, 51.3% of students studying at state-owned institutions and 85.6% of students studying at private institutions were enrolled in distance education courses. The proportion of face-to-face and correspondence students depends greatly on the specific fields of study. Within the academic field of economy and business, fewer students enroll as face-to-face students (36.8%); whereas, the areas of physics and mathematics (93.0%), 180 weaponry (93.8%), and information security (94.8%) count the most face-to-face students.

Summary and Outlook
Historically and presently, distance education has played and plays a prominent role in the Russian educational system. Due to the different modes in distance education, a disparate picture is created which is corroborated by the different terminologies used: the traditional correspondence education on the one hand and "the modern distance education" employing new media (e-learning) on the other.
In the Anglo-American sphere, the terms e-learning and distance education are often used synonymously: "The distinction of eLearning from distance education is difficult: In the USA both forms […] are subsumed under the term Distance Education" (Schulmeister, 2006, p. 5). It is to be observed that in line with the development of internet-based learning and teaching, the originally existing boundaries between distance universities and brick and mortar universities blur. The usage of new media leads to a convergence: Single-mode universities develop into dual-mode universities (Mills & Tait, 1999). In Russia, this has been the case for a long time. Almost all higher education institutions operate distance departments next to their direct departments.
As was shown in the OECD report (1999), traditional print-based distance education lacked quality. Kruglov (1997) points out that the instructional design is not laid out for the specific needs of correspondence students and the study materials are often not suitable for selfstudy. Today, universities operating as providers of E-Learning distance themselves deliberately against this distance education of low quality, correspondence education departments are shut down, while new distance education programs are established. Kruglov (1997) observes that in terms of the development of distance education, that is web-based e-learning, two fundamental points of view are represented in Russia: the technocratic and the system developing. Representatives of the first advocate a radical break with traditional distance education and intend to newly develop modern online distance learning. This point of view is widespread in Russia, which also shows in the technological orientation in the journals. In contrast, representatives of the system developing approach support a further development of distance education.
The Russian government is pushing the implementation and application of e-learning and  The aim of this paper was an exploration of the Russian distance education system, its historical roots and recent developments in modern distance education and e-learning. By uniting sources that are scattered and already due to linguistic barriers difficult to access, the authors of this article hope to have composed a picture of the Russian educational system with special consideration of distance education.
The example of MESI University in Moscow shows distance education as being an important factor in the development of e-learning. The future needs an understanding of its origins. Looking at the wider picture and directing one's gaze to the East can indeed be fruitful.