SOFT COMPETENCES AS MEASUREMENT FOR E-LEARNING EFFECTIVENESS

ABSTRACT

The article is intended to prove that effective education in a form of e-learning may trigger development of soft competences among students. There were critical literature studies and a statistical description of surveys carried out among students of economic majors. Furthermore, the necessity for education as an action based on adequate selection of communication forms was defined (those existing among the education participants) along with education methods embedded in the classes scenario, intended to achieve some educational results in a form of soft competences. The following soft competences were considered: openness, involvement in acquisition of new knowledge, skills in selection and processing of knowledge from various sources, which were researched in terms of any interdependencies among the forms of communication and education methods. The non-parametric Gamma coefficient was employed in order to analyze the correlation relationships between variables. The statistical analyses proved that social media as a communication form among education participants play a significant role as regards acquisition of soft competences. In relation to the educational methods, the following methods exert strong impact on improvement of soft skills (from the strongest correlation relationship): video conferences, online tests, texts, group projects, stimulation of creativity, didactic games. The obtained results can be recommended for educational practitioners (teachers, methodologists) in the aspect of improving e-learning education effectiveness.

Keywords: e-learning, soft competences, forms of communication, methods of education, effectiveness of education