On October 29, 2022, a training on the topic “Blended form of teaching Russian as a foreign language using the Akelius platform” was held for teachers.

During the training, Gulnara Akhmetova, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences and General Director of the Institute for Pedagogical Research touched upon several important topics at once. She told about where to start and how much material to use, revealed the methods of communicating knowledge and developing skills, and explained the methods of mastering grammar (objective, verbal, situational) and types of exercises with a grammatical focus (preparatory, imitative, substitutional, transformative and reproductive). In addition, she dwelled in detail on speech exercises and assessment (formative, summative, feedback). After each of the topics, teachers performed tasks to consolidate the theoretical knowledge gained in practice.

According to Gulnara Batyrbekovna, the main components of pedagogical activity are three links:

- information contact (contact based on educational content);

- psychological contact;

- contact arising on the basis of joint activities.

The expert emphasizes that the emotional side plays a huge role in learning languages.

According to her the specificity of the language teaching process constantly requires a particularly lively contact between the teacher and the audience. A variety of methods of presenting material and periodic discharge of the atmosphere exclude possible passivity and boredom. The emotional atmosphere in the classroom is extremely important for the perception of the educational process. Emotions accompany and actively help the assimilation of any knowledge.

Therefore, when working on errors, the expert advises to take into account two points. Firstly, do not repeat the mistakes of students and secondly, do not personify mistakes.

She also noticed that the speech of the teacher should contain only correct constructions of language because the students memorize them easily. When working on correcting mistakes, the teacher should not personify them. For example, you shouldn't say something like, "Yesterday Ilene again made some mistakes in using forms." The personification of mistakes is a source of negative emotions, which should be avoided in the classroom by all means.

Further, during the speech, Gulnara Batyrbekovna described the architecture of blended learning using the Akelius platform or application. According to her, the text or language material offered to students should arouse their interest, have a certain communicative value and logical clarity, and also reflect the main stylistic features of the language.

In the course of practical consolidation, teachers were asked to find a fragment from the Akelius application for one of the proposed methods or types of exercises and justify their choice. After completing the task, teachers could share their experience and solutions found, or, if necessary, ask colleagues for advice.

We would like to remind that IITU has been participating in a joint project with Akelius and UNICEF since November 2021. This initiative is aimed at the socialization of children in difficult life situations. The project involves 9 schools in Kazakhstan, whose teachers conduct classes in the blended learning format using the Akelius platform.

By the time the pilot project is completed in early 2023, 250 children are expected to be trained on the Akelius platform, and the blended language learning methodology will become an example for improving literacy in other disciplines and teaching in a digital environment.