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Interactive online tools in teaching foreign languages to university students // Pedagogical Review. 2023. Issue 3 (49). P. 42-50

Digital transformations in the society influence higher education thus moving it towards the digital format. Digital tools and online resources are becoming an integral part of teaching and learning in and out of the classroom. Educators, however, face difficulties in choosing the most appropriate and effective formats for using these resources due to low awareness of all the advanced online tools and poor command of the English language. The article aims to analyze the options for using interactive online tools in teaching a foreign language based on the experience of the Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU). This goal can be achieved by solving the following tasks: 1) analyze and classify available online resources for teaching and learning; 2) identify the most effective formats for using interactive online tools to intensify the teaching and learning of foreign languages by university students. The following methods are used in the article: analysis of online resources and articles describing the use of these resources, and discussions with teachers who teach foreign languages using these resources. The results showed that the online educational resources can be classified into the following groups: MOOCs, LMS-platforms, online conference platforms, interactive boards and interactive tools. The most efficient formats of using interactive tools for teaching foreign languages to university students are interactive flashcards and games with them for introducing new vocabulary, open tests for checking the vocabulary learnt, multiple choice and true/false tests for working with new texts. Hands-on experience of using these formats out of class and in class at KNRTU can be used at other universities. Further research will focus on factors and barriers of using interactive online tools in teaching English at the universities.

Keywords: digitalization, online teaching and learning resources, interactive online tools, foreign language teaching and learning, international partnership