The special features of the Open Training Courses (OTC) at Moscow Architecture Institute (MArKHI) were determined both by tradition and the current state of Russian architecture education. Active suppliers of the OTC educational content in architecture are additional education structures: pre-study courses for future MArKhI applicants, computer learning courses, the SOGETsU Landscape design school and the Higher school of environmental design, the Urbanistica Center for urban planners professional advancement, the Advanced Training faculty for university teachers and architects.

Their interest in OTC establishment is explained by a desire to attract the maximum number of new students to additional education and to disseminate information about their training programs[1]. Promotion of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses was handicapped for the following reasons:

* low efficiency of OTC establishment for a professional audience – architects, designers, urban planners in Russia and Russian-speaking CIS countries - determined by small professional volume was forecasted;
* absence of competition within the professional academic community caused a low interest of teachers in promotion of results of their scientific studies;
* low IT penetration in architecture education in Russia and associated inability to use network technologies in specialists’ training; and as one of the manifestations – teachers fear loss of copyright when publishing educational content on the internet;

Over three years (2009-2011) of the architecture OTC existence 26 training courses were published of which 10 courses were resources of secondary use presented by additional education structures while the rest were innovative courses developed specially for publication at OTC.
Market studies aimed at finding innovative lines in professional education in art and architecture determined the content of new courses. The market studies were based on the Target Programs of Moscow Government with forecasts of the city’s social and economic development. The selection of innovative lines was based on the MArKhI teachers’ studies potential and range of scientific interest. It was found that out of 89 active city programs 88 will need architecture and art education for realization of their goals.

While establishing OTC it was determined that further development is reliant on implementation of the following tasks:

* OTC shall be helpful in developing mechanisms of approbation and promotion of innovative programs of additional art and architecture education;
* the communicative potential of OTC shall be used for developing full-time and extramural study modes;
* a range of additional education programs should be expanded with a view to attracting new groups and the development of a new informative content based on an entire spectrum of knowledge inherent to architectural education.

Modern methods of involving architecture OTC in mainstream education correspond to methods of using a digital methodical fund in extramural education (DO MArKhI). It is helpful in studying missed lectures, samples of implemented tasks. In contrast to extramural education, OTC are available for general access. Use of OTC resources in full-time education reduced the printing costs of study guides and provided more flexible conditions for students’ self-education. Online publishing of training courses provided conditions for computerization of architecture education and for an increase in the number of teachers who use IT in teaching for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

[1] Additional education structures are economically self-relied and in a position to finance establishment of Open Training Courses.

Keywords

business model · case study · MArKHI · OER research · OTC