TOURISM EDUCATION IN QUARANTINE REALITY: CHALLENGES, TENDENCIES, AND SOLUTIONS
Authors:   Yuri Fedkovich Chernivtsi National University, Buchko Zhanna 
Published: July 2022

The goals of this article are to explain the methodological and technological components that were used to plan and implement distance learning and to share the general experience of distance learning using Moodle learning management system at Yuri Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The methodology of our work was based on systematizing the experience we gained during the four months of distance learning in the reality of quarantine and shelter-in-place requirements of COVID-19 epidemics. We analyzed and compared various online platforms and information resources and identified their advantages and disadvantages. As a result, a universal approach to organizing and providing instruction remotely has been synthesized. The results. The authors have summarized the challenges facing education and the subjects of the educational process during the introduction of quarantine restrictions and intensive implementation of methods, models, and technologies of distance learning in the training of tourism professionals. The findings show the advantages of distance learning under quarantine conditions. They include accessibility, mobility, manufacturability, and flexibility. We also provide reasoning for our choice of distance learning mode: individual, asynchronous and synchronous. We also show the advantages of the open-source learning management system Moodle for the use in the institutions of higher education that train professionals in the field of tourism. We highlight the following advantages of Moodle as a distance learning platform: unlimited and free distribution, open source, opportunities for communication, tools for assessing students' work and progress, and user-friendly interface. We have established key tendencies of effective solutions of applied challenges in distance learning from the point of view of identifying and adopting different technological platforms and other resources. They include rapid adaptation to new conditions, exploring the affordances of technological platforms for distance learning, building distance courses in Moodle and filling course shells with appropriate learning materials, development of fast algorithms of communication with students, transition to and scheduling of online classes, conducting attestation and qualifying final exams synchronously. We explain our procedural workflow of implementing distance learning using an example of teaching a course on "Ecological Agro-Tourism" to students in specialty code 242, "Tourism" of the educational program "International tourism." We provide a list of pros and cons of distance learning specific for tourism education in Ukraine during quarantine-imposed restrictions. The novelty of this work is in the developed recommendations on optimal approaches to setting up online distance learning and the related specific technology solutions. The implications of this study show the possibilities and ways of incorporating the compiled experience to the educational process of other majors as related to challenges in education due to quarantine-related restrictions. The results of our study were applied to facilitate professional education at Yuri Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.