Abstract:

Modern educational system is intensively searching for a new educational technology relevant to the challenge of specialists’ training. The focus is on research of the issues related to the mobility of students of various typological groups and individuals looking for professional development. Some efficient and more cost-effective approach is being pursued, alongside with the ones dealing with actual physical movement of learners. These approaches include virtual mobility as well as in-house mobility within the university educational environment.

In the academic year of 2015-2016 Southern Federal University (Russian Federation) has launched a new strategy of academic process management, namely the "Week of academic mobility" project. The article aims at describing the intramural mobility technology in terms of its practical implementation to show its benefits and drawbacks. The analysis of the technology’s essence and procedure is given (with due emphasis on the forms of educational process organization and management, the content of the students’ projects, open unconventional academic activities). The university’s administrative documents and interviews with different groups of respondents provide the basis for analysis. It shows how the forming effect of the technology is evaluated by the senior administrative staff of the University (at the level of vice-rectors and heads of administrative departments), heads of educational structural units (deans, directors of institutes), employers, teachers, students.

The article concludes by stating that alternativeness and innovativeness are characteristic to intramural academic mobility technology in terms of its concept, efficiency and curriculum content. The technology’s further development potential is being demonstrated. The necessity for it, as well as possible way of improvement, is pointed out by all the respondents, involved in the process of education.

Keywords:

Education, university, academic mobility, intramural mobility, alternativeness, innovativeness.