International Journal of Multidisciplinary Thought,

CD-ROM. ISSN: 2156-6992 :: 2(2):435441 (2012)

c 2012 by UniversityPublications.net
Copyright

KAZAKHSTANI E-LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN HIGHER

EDUCATION
Tazhina Gainiya
University of International Business, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the worlds ninth largest country. The educational institutions located in this huge area
are mostly concentrated in the largest cities. Therefore the development of e-learning educational
system as a less expensive and a more accessible option is an urgent need for the republic. The
University of International Business1 (UIB) is one of the few schools engaged in development of
e-learning within the framework of the scientific-pedagogic experiment initiated by the Ministry of
Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Keywords: Kazakhstan, Higher education, e-learning, Social activity.

Introduction
The UIB e-learning format provides an opportunity to get a state standard diploma without leaving ones
job/career as well as without being forced to make additional trips to take final exams in Almaty, but
instead working with learning materials at any time that is convenient for the student (be that in a tutoring
class, office or home, in the evening or at weekends). The advantages of e-learning are apparent and
particular relevant to the states educational system which is influenced by the following processes: the
economic reforms atmosphere forms new requirements for training professional economists; it is a
pleasure to note the formation of qualitatively-new need of population in the educational content and
technology; the republics political transformations fostering Kazakhstans international ties and relations,
including those in the sphere of education; the emergence and rapid development of further means of
information exchange between the educational process participants and, finally, the growth of
international integration in education and the emerging competition in the global education market.
UIB was a pioneer that has introduced the e-learning format to 5 cities in different parts of the
republic for the very first time. Students are offered three e-learning technologies: case study, network,
and TV-technology made of content of the live-streamed class conducted online by the instructor in
Almaty. The e-learning portal2 of the University of International Business was generated by the Elearning Server 3000 Product. Currently UIB uses the communication channel linking all regional elearning centers. Real-time classes are carried out simultaneously in five cities Astana, Aktobe,
Kostanay, Shymkent, Ust-Kamenogorsk. The author has taught at the UIB e-learning since 2005, and
summarized the republics national e-learning experience to indicate not only advantages, but also issues
that most commonly hinder its development in Kazakhstan (RK).

1
2

www.uib.kz
http://fppo.uib.kz

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Tazhina Gainiya

1. Kazakhstani Geography as a Background for E-learning in the Country

Kazakhstan is a unitary state occupying the area of 2 million 724.9 thousand km with the population of
16 433000 people. In terms of territory the Republic ranks 9th among the worlds largest countries. RK is
formed by 14 regions, 86 cities, 168 districts and 174 settlements3.
The largest region is the Aktobe region occupying 11% of the entire territory of RK with 12 rural
and 8 regional towns, that are home to 718.7 thousand people. Aktobe is the region of a unique mineral
resources and it ranks first in the world for its chromium ore reserves. There are also oil, gas, nickel,
titanium and gold. It is no wonder this region has become the center of an intensive economic growth.
Thanks to the economic diversification the manufacturing index has exceeded 150 percent in 2010. Under
the regions market development program 86 large-scale projects worth $ 1 trillion 200 billion have been
successfully implemented. Another large region is Eastern Kazakhstan, where the state budget has
provided $ 2,7 million to support small and medium-sized enterprises. In Southern Kazakhstan the small
and medium enterprises make up 26% of the gross regional product as well as 26 % of workplaces in the
region. That is one of the highest indicators in the republic with over half of the existing businesses being
subjects of agriculture4.
As it has been noted by the President Nazarbayev, What we need right now are not giant companies
employing 20 thousand people, but companies employing 20-30-50 people. The head of state cited
Germany as an example, for 90% of the countrys production is manufactured by smaller enterprises,
That is why Germany made it through the economic crisis better than the others. The employer with 50
employees can change production if it isnt selling. Huge companies are not able to do the same thing
while that very flexibility is truly important5. According to the republics statistics agency, in
Kazakhstan small and medium-sized business has grown by 15% for the past year and has marked the
number of 845 737 enterprises6.
The educational institutions located at this huge economically-developing territory are mostly
concentrated in large cities, where private schools hold an obvious dominance. Thus 89 out of 144
universities are private. Therefore the development of e-learning in Higher education as a less costly and
more accessible option is an urgent need for RK. E-learning becomes more popular due to the crisis
period. Many regional educational institutions change full-time studies to e-learning because of the price
issue.

2. E-learning Experience at the University of International Business

UIB had implemented all the e-learning necessary components in order to meet the international
educational standards. UIB is the higher educational institution of the Republic of Kazakhstan established
in 1992. Its founders and top managers are the countrys famous economic scholars and entrepreneurs.
Today UIB is a modern school of business, which educates specialists in the field of management and
marketing, finance and accounting, economics and international relations. It is a well-equipped institution
in terms of both technology and information with a large campus in downtown Almaty and e-learning
offices in five other cities. The universitys top status within the higher educational market is constantly
proven by its stable positioning in the states most credible rankings. UIB was chosen by USAID CARANA as one of the five best universities in Kazakhstan and it has passed a pilot EQUIS-CAMAN
(2002) international public accreditation7. An important step toward meeting the European educational
standards was taken when UIB and its partners the Bologna University (Italy) and the Central
3

http://www.kazakhembus.com/uploads/images/Country Profile 2011.pdf

Silk Road Economy & Business Report, 06/14/2010. www.silkroadfoundation
5
Address of the President of the RK, N.Nazarbayev, to the People of Kazakhstan, January 28, 2011
6
The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. http://www.eng.stat.kz/Pages/default.aspx
7
International Management Development Association, CEEMAN News. #41, 2006. www.ceeman.org

Kazakhstani E-Learning Experience in Higher Education

437

University of Applied Sciences (Finland) have won the TEMPUS project of introducing the European
credit system in the universities of Kazakhstan8. From June 2011 till April 2012 the UIB four educational
programs have been struggling for the authorized international accreditation by the Austrian Agency of
Quality Assurance (AQA) to meet the quality standards on the European and international scale.
UIB was the first to introduce the e-learning format in Kazakhstan back in 2005. A notable step in
implementing e-learning was taken when the university has signed the contract with the European
Commission on TEMPUS DESAS SM-SCM-T073B06-2006/KZ project of Developing standards of elearning and the accreditation system in Kazakhstan. While working on that, the university was trying to
meet the increasing countrys need for business specialists, managers, marketers, financiers, and
accountants. It is therefore important to point that the UIB e-learning format is implemented in the
context of the following objective internal and external processes:


economic market reforms in RK set new requirements for the competence of specialists, the
preparation new fields specialists that have not yet been trained by the government;
 a broad territorial division of Kazakhstani population and the lack of closely-located business
schools;
 political transformations in the country and the development of international relations, including
those in the sphere of education;
 international integration in education is increasing and therefore the competition within the global
educational market does the same (28 thousand Kazakh citizens are currently enrolled in
academic programs in Europe and the U.S., including 3 thousand people that participate in the
Bolashak program funded by the government).
 the emergence and rapid development of new technological means of information exchange
between the participants of the educational process;
 the mobility of population is increasing and education promotes entrepreneurial and social
activity.
From the very start of the UIB e-learning project the university made it available for the
abovementioned five regions of the country, where the regional e-learning centers have been established
and equipped with their own offices, auditoriums, libraries and staff headed by the centers director.
Access to courses is provided by a login and a password created when the student gets registered and
enrolled in the course. Just as it is in the traditional form of education, the instructor teaching the
discipline works out a curriculum, sets the class schedule and the assignments. These materials are then
uploaded to the e-learning portal. Each training manual should be written in a way that would enable
students to move from the activities performed under the guidance of an instructor to the activities that
would be self-controlled. An important feature of regional e-learning centers is that the system creates and
saves each students portfolio, including a students assignments, grades and instructors comments, and
forum messages. Within the course an instructor is able to create and use various grading systems:
attendance, online performance, the quality of work, the rate of visiting the portal, the net, the structure of
the forum questions. Teaching materials are formed by the instructor based on the electronic lecture texts
and the practical materials as well as those meant for self-studies including tasks, offline discussion
questions, the final test taken online at the e-learning portal.
In the process of developing the UIB e-learning, new models and organizational forms of education
have begun to emerge: computer conferencing, teleconferencing, roundtables, information sessions,
individual counseling. The principle of the e-learning non-antagonism to the traditional education
provides opportunities to socio-economic effect of fairness.
The UIB e-learning project has set one more important task for teachers and instructors. It was
important to equip the UIB regional e-learning centers with electronic educational publications for all
courses. It is possible to use the American/European/Russian electronic textbooks, and they have been
using yet, but they are missing the peculiarities of the Kazakhstani market and its context. The necessity
8

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/participating_countries/impact/kazakhstan.pdf

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Tazhina Gainiya

of publishing modern national e-textbooks were discussed at the International Conference "Information
and Communication Technologies of E-learning", Almaty, 20079.
Certainly, e-learning requires good technical equipment and good bandwidth internet network.
Currently the UIB e-learning uses the connection channel that links the abovementioned five eeducational centers to held simultaneously the real-time classes. Each student can see the instructor on
the screen and is able to ask questions, get answers and feedback during the class. At the same time
communication technologies also let e-learners and teachers provide an interaction between students from
different cities when they discuss group project or participate in business game. E-learning is
individualized in its nature and it implies self-studies to a large extent. The entire system is based on
precise records and the system of control over tasks performed. The single rod of the remote education is
the virtual class regime a communicational block when students visit their online lessons and
consultations in tutoring classes.
Typically, the asynchronous interaction of students and instructors involves the exchange of
information via Forum at the portal. This helps the teacher analyze the incoming information and reply at
a suitable for students time. Therefore UIB has initially set the goal of training instructors themselves in
the first place, and from the time of introducing the UIB e-learning project instructors have been
regularly trained within the TEMPUS framework.
UIB e-learning is fully legitimate and it provides for receiving a state-standard diploma without
leaving ones job/career and without being forced to travel to Almaty in order to take any exams, working
with educational materials at any time suitable for the student, getting access to various sources of
information through either the UIB e-learning portal or the other resources available on the Internet.
The UIB e-learning experience is nearly 6 years old. It is the experience that has helped teachers
learn and master their skills a lot, including getting over the fear of conducting lectures via television.
Along with that, there certainly are some problems. That is why discussions on the matter of e-learning
are not ending among academics at the university.
3. Survey
There has been a survey for the 143 graduate students of all five regional centers. In one of those centers,
Aktobe, the interviews and polls were conducted through direct communication. In putting this article
each student was invited to address the following questions:
1. You have chosen e-learning because (please chose two options):
a. you are willing to improve your social status
b. you have issues at work (employment competition)
c. it is required by your senior management (normative instruction)
d. you are seeking further career opportunities (job/career change)
e. it is a global tendency in education
f. different (please comment)
2. The system of e-learning involves a number of elements. Please, rate/identify the importance of
each element by extremely important/some-what/insignificant/not at all:
a. education takes place in the area of residence
b. education is based on specific programs and educational manuals (paper-based and electronic
media)
c. in the course of education students save money they would otherwise spend on transportation,
living expenses etc.

KazInform, Education: http://www.profit.kz/news

Kazakhstani E-Learning Experience in Higher Education

439

d. in the course of education students save time they would otherwise spend moving or
travelling to their educational centers.
e. the course of studies distracts ones job/career to a lesser extent than does the traditional
f. the course of education requires a greater extent of students self-control when studying the
disciplines
g. in the course of education we work at a student-convenient schedule: synchronously and
asynchronously
h. e-learning supports and stimulates group work to a greater extent than does the traditional
form of education
i. to some extent the e-learning, in fact, performs social justice as it provides equal educational
opportunities regardless of ones location or financial background
j. should UIB e-learning be promoted in your city (region)?

3. What are the reasons that keep your organizations employees away from obtaining a higher
professional education? (You may choose up to 2 reasons):
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

lack of financipal opportunities

issues that have to do with the employees absence
dissatisfaction with the quality of education
the employers reluctance to direct his/her subordinates to further studies
remoteness of the school
family issues
other (please comment)

4. Results of the Survey

Graduate students have chosen e-learning because:
-

they are willing to improve their social status 50% of respondents

they face issues at work (employment competition) 20 % of respondents
they are seeking further career opportunities (job/career change) 44% of respondents
it is a global tendency in education 25 % of respondents
other (please comment) 1 answer boredom

It is therefore clear that e-learning in the regions is treated as means to improve ones social status or
as a way to broaden ones career opportunities (the total of 94 %). Thus, a degree-holding business
specialist is in demand in the regions.
The respondents have rated the e-learning system as follows: 90% of respondents believe it is
extremely important or somewhat, they are able to study within their areas of residence using special
programs and educational manuals, especially the electronic sources and online interactions. They have
also found it is important that they can save money and time, schedule their classes and enjoy the social
justice provided by e-learning. It was generally expected the received results as they match the advantages
of e-learning in Higher Education one can find in the publications (Potashnik and Capper, 1998; Al
Sharhan, 2000; Daurenbekov, 2006; Alshanov, 2009; Tazhina, 2011).
In terms of methodological preferences in e-learning 70% of respondents prefer the traditional
paper-based sources of information for case studies.
The educational process requires a greater extent of self-control has two types of answers: 50%
believe it is important, while 25% notice it is important, yet difficult. Instructors should therefore
carefully work out assignments and pay special attention to counseling of students, especially during their
first year of study.
There are also the varying answers to e-learning stimulates group work. 23% believe it is
insignificant, while the rest of respondents have ignored this point at all. Probably, to correct the situation

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Tazhina Gainiya

and facilitate group dynamics there are needed more synchronous interactions or increasing the time of
live classes. The question on synchronous and asynchronous work in the process of education somehow
unveils the problem of group work 80% of respondents said it was extremely important and have
even underlined synchronous. There can only be one conclusion in this case, students want to combine
the benefits of e-learning while keeping the advantages of traditional education.
The last question of the survey was asking to evaluate the quality of the UIB e-learning project, if the
students were planning their further education in UIB, and which majors might be of demand in their
regions. 50% of respondents have expressed their opinion in favor of the UIB e-learning quality. So the
question raised from this fact is why only 50%. The answer is either rooted in the complexity of elearning itself or the university has to dig deeper in order to indicate the issues of e-learning in
Kazakhstan. In terms of planning their further education respondents have chosen the MBA and PhD
programs, namely in Political Science. A big percentage of respondents have also chosen graduate
program in Law. It is remarkable that 70% of those who were offered to answer the survey were willing
to continue their studies in UIB.
Answering the question What are the reasons that keep your organizations employees away from
obtaining a higher professional education?, 80% of the respondents have chosen the lack of financial
opportunities, 13% - Reluctance of an employer to direct his/her subordinates to further studies , and
about 7% of respondents marked family issues. The fact that 80% of respondents chose the lack of
financial opportunities was not a surprise. The reluctance of some employers to do without their
employees even for short periods of time should be also noted. The following comments on the margins
of the survey papers were mentioned They wouldnt let me leave to take my final exams, I have to
look for a substitute professional for the period of my online classes, etc.
During the personal interviews conducted as a part of the research some weaknesses of e-learning at
the university were indicated, so to overcome these objectives there would be given reasonable
recommendations in conclusions.
5. Conclusions
The advantages of e-learning are obvious and particularly relevant to Kazakhstani educational system
which is influenced by the various abovementioned processes. To overcome revealed objectives of elearning the following recommendations are given:
1. The system of strict control should be developed and implemented for the final exams, as there
have been cases of plagiarism, even the Final test being taken by a fictitious person.
2. Synchronous interaction of students and instructors should be enhanced.
3. Interactive group education (teleconferencing, group project work etc.) should be widely and
comprehensively implemented.
4. National e-textbooks for the higher education courses should be developed.
Certainly, all these suggestions are intended to increase the quality of Kazakhstani e-learning and
meet international standards in Higher education.
References
1.

Alshanov, Rahman (2009) Virtual universities in Kazakhstan: status and prospects, or how to improve
higher education Kazakhstan Pravda, Almaty, RK.

2.

Al Sharhan, Jamal (2000) Education and the Satellite: Possibilities for Saudi Arabia? International Journal
of Instructional Media 27(1): 51.

3.

Daurenbekov, Kuahysh (2006) Distance education in Kazakhstan Proceedings of the XIII Russian
Scientific-Methodical Conference "Telematica-2006". St. Petersburg, Russia 1: 168169.

Kazakhstani E-Learning Experience in Higher Education

441

4.

Potashnik, Michael, Capper, Joanne (1998) Distance Education: Growth and Diversity. Finance &
Development Magazine. 35(1): 4245.

5.

Silk Road Foundation (2010) Silk Road Economy & Business Report Saratoga, CA.

6.

Tazhina, Gainiya (2011) The study of career anchors of graduates Social Educator Almaty, RK.

7.

TEMPUS Distance Learning Project (2005) SWOT analysis of Higher Education systems in Central Asia
countries to develop distant learning.