Studying in a foreign university in the first person

Good day, Habrovsk!

This article will discuss the differences in the organization and teaching methods in higher education institutions of Georgia and Russia, as well as BTU, a student whom I myself am.

In addition, at the end of the article my subjective views are given on improving the quality of the learning environment in educational institutions using the example of UBT, to form a competent IT community.

Acquaintance


A little about the university itself. The

university is located in an ecologically clean area of ​​Tbilisi, its opening took place in 2016, but in such a short period of time it was already able to become quite popular and recognizable.

According to the plan of the multi-million dollar project, the university will include a research center complex

  • IT Academy
  • School
  • Laboratory Research Center
  • Technological incubators

Created to support the development of business ideas.

The center includes student campuses, a summer school for gifted children, equipped with a sports field and a pool, as well as the country's only artificial intelligence laboratory.

Comfort


The university offers a pleasant working environment.





Computer-equipped library, dining room, swimming pool, stadium.

Proofs with studio









Learning process


At UBT, studies are specifically aimed at learning programming. This factor is one of the main differences between studying in Georgia and Russia, since in Russian universities in the first courses students are often taught subjects that are not related to their future activities (history, philosophy, physical education).

In total, the new university has several training programs: business and administration with a focus on finance, business and administration with a focus on management and everyone’s beloved IT. I’ll make a reservation, the studies here are mixed, IT specialists study part of subjects from business, and they, in turn, partially study subjects from our faculty.

In the first year, study is divided into two semesters and compulsory subjects are attached to the student.

First semester


  • Math 1
  • Mobile applications
  • Introduction to Entrepreneurship
  • Principles of Digital Technology
  • Python programming basics
  • Computer Networking Basics

Second term


  • Math 2
  • Management basics
  • Database Basics
  • PC architecture
  • Innovation and Startup Management
  • Python Programming

Most of the lecturers consist of young specialists who easily find a common language with students, which has become one of the main reasons for entering UBT, which I have never regretted choosing. The lecturers here are really wonderful, they are always ready to help, explain, help with difficulties. A vivid example is the help in finding a mistake in the code by my Favorite lecturer in Python, who, by the way, volunteered to help me late at night using TeamViewer.

An educational institution destroys stereotypical thoughts about today's university studies and their unsuitability, often there are interesting events: Tech hubs, hackathons, demo days for startup ideas, there is also a platform for employing students, etc.

How technology supplanted bureaucracy or the “Online” mode


Almost every self-respecting university here has its own platform for students, at UBT it is called BTU Classroom. What is it for?

At the beginning of your studies, you will receive an email with the domain of the aforementioned alma mater, then you will be linked to your Classroom account, where literally everything is available to you

  • Detailed view of attached items
  • Score table
  • Payment schedule
  • Section of applications that you can write online by a template or a blank sheet
  • Future Events Calendar
  • timetable
  • Summary
  • Email section
  • GPA Rating

Whiff
At the beginning of the semester



It is very important not to forget to say that technology did not pass by the lectures themselves: the format was changed for the better. Now lectures are not outlined, students are not required to write down each lecturer's word. All lectures are sent to students on behalf of the lecturer in Classroom, where the student can read everything at any minute and ask questions. A syllabus file is necessarily attached to the subject, which describes detailed information about the subject, evaluation criteria and further topics.

Credit education system


Georgia has a European system for transferring and accumulating loans, which means that one academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS points, a semester of 30 points, and to get a bachelor's degree you need to score 240 ECTS points, i.e., study for 4 years.

Each lecturer himself chooses the criteria for evaluating students, but the total in the semester should be a maximum of 100 points, in any case, the configured Classroom system will not do otherwise. This makes it clear that the mechanisms of work of this concept not only became an integral part of distributed education, but also greatly facilitated the fate of both students and lecturers.

What I learned in one semester


I entered the university rather green, there was no development experience, in many respects I had superficial knowledge, there was no formed goal, and it was difficult to choose something. However, due to one accident, over time, everything worked out.

I will highlight the subject. Mobile applications. Now I will explain why and how it is interconnected.

According to the program, here we had the minus should have been studying Proto.io , Photoshop photos and all the rubbish not related to programming. Fortunately, a lecturer was attached to us, who laughed at it and began to teach us the Kotlin language, from here my sympathy for this language began, from the very first lectures he immersed us in code, showed the basics, drew a parallel between static typification and dynamic, began to explain the principles OOP.

There are two points: the first is good, immersion in practice increases the speed of learning and the second - the guys who came to study from scratch did not understand anything, it would be more competent to give them the opportunity to learn the basis of the basics - algorithms, and later begin learning mobile development. Thanks to the random appointment of a guest lecturer, I fell in love with Kotlin and chose the direction of mobile development for myself.

Local project


Kotlin training in Android Studio went pretty well, almost all the time I spent working in AS. At first I could not write anything further than usual

Kotlin Code
 button.setOnClickListener{}

 Toast.makeText(context, "Hello world, I am a toast." , Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show() 



Over time, we began to study the principles of working with Firebase

User registration

signUp.setOnClickListener {
            val regPass = RegPass.text.toString()
            val regEmail = RegEmail.text.toString()
            if(regEmail.isEmpty() || regPass.isEmpty()) {
                Toast.makeText(this, "Please, Enter the Fields", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
            }
            FirebaseAuth.getInstance().createUserWithEmailAndPassword(regEmail, regPass)
                .addOnCompleteListener {
                    if(!it.isSuccessful){
                        return@addOnCompleteListener
                    }
                    Toast.makeText(this, "Register is Successful", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
                    val changeActivity = Intent(this, LastMessages::class.java)
                    startActivity(changeActivity)
                }
                .addOnFailureListener {
                    Toast.makeText(this, "Register is Failure: ${it.message}", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
                }
        }


They also wrote simple forms for authorization by type:

User Authorization
 
SignIn.setOnClickListener {
  val email = LogEmail.text.toString()
  val pass = LogPass.text.toString()
  if (email.isEmpty() || pass.isEmpty()) {
    Toast.makeText(this, "Please, enter the fields", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
  }
  FirebaseAuth.getInstance().signInWithEmailAndPassword(email, pass)
    .addOnCompleteListener {
      if (!it.isSuccessful) {
        return@addOnCompleteListener
         }
    val changeActivity = Intent(this, LastMessages::class.java)
    changeActivity.flags = Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK.or(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK)
    startActivity(changeActivity)
    Toast.makeText(this, "Login is Successful", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show()
}
    .addOnFailureListener {
      Toast.makeText(this, "Login is failed: ${it.message}", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
       Log.d("Fail", "Login is Failure: ${it.message}")
  }
}


Time passed, I continued training in the chosen field, devoting most of my time to it, but the session was approaching, the task for the final exam was to bring an application of any type. All this time I was improving the application:

  • Added the ability to attach a photo at registration
  • Display a list of registered users
  • Sending messages to each other

The principle of operation is quite simple - when you click on the send button, the contents of the message and user data are loaded into Realtime DataBase and saved in JSON format, after which the “listener”

Listener structure
 
val ref = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference("/user-messages/$fromId/$toId")
        ref.addChildEventListener(object : ChildEventListener {
            override fun onCancelled(p0: DatabaseError) {
            }
            override fun onChildMoved(p0: DataSnapshot, p1: String?) {
                TODO("not implemented") //To change body of created functions use File | Settings | File Templates.
            }
            override fun onChildChanged(p0: DataSnapshot, p1: String?) {
                TODO("not implemented") //To change body of created functions use File | Settings | File Templates.
            }
            override fun onChildAdded(p0: DataSnapshot, p1: String?) {
            // Основной код
            }
            override fun onChildRemoved(p0: DataSnapshot) {
                TODO("not implemented") //To change body of created functions use File | Settings | File Templates.
            }
        })


Upon seeing the change in the database, it will automatically add a message to the dialog.

Chat Photo



The exam was passed successfully, a total of 95 points out of 100.

Conclusion


Last of all, I want to say that there are no budget places for information technology departments in Georgia, and even more so, by decision of the government. Education is paid, the minimum payment at each university is 2250 GEL == 55 thousand rubles, not taking into account the possibility of receiving a grant.

However, the price justifies itself, in addition to the main subjects, there are also sample courses:

  • BlockChain Technology (IBM blockain)
  • Visual Studio Programming
  • Introduction to Electronics and Robotics
  • System Programming
  • 3D Modeling

and much more.

In addition, a Georgian university is already collaborating with UK universities - Oxford Brookes University and Staffordshire University, which means you can get a British university diploma from Tbilisi University of Business and Technology.

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