PurposeThe COVID-19 crisis experience is shaping new guidelines for learning activities that need to be developed from an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective based on the analysis and assessment of potential impacts and social expectations.Design/methodology/approachThe research is devoted to the study of modern e-learning challenges in the context of social distance, the analysis of learning experience, problems and opportunities associated with online learning. The research was carried out at the “Blinded for peer review” and involved 300 graduate students. A qualitative method based on a two-step process was used in the study. The discussion allowed participants to discuss and compare personal learning experiences primarily related to the COVID-19 crisis.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrated that online learning is an efficient tool for the development of hard skills while being less effective for the improvement of soft skills; they also allowed us to identify important aspects of professional personnel training which should be taken into account while developing a strategy for harmonizing on-campus and online education with the diversification of curricula by various pedagogical technologies and digital tools, as well as bringing social interactions into classroom activities.Originality/valueDue to the fact that most study participants were technical and economic students, it was concluded that the e-learning format is an effective methodology for the development of technical and digital skills of students.

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The phytochemical screening of potentially efficient medicinal herbs is one of the current focus areas of modern pharmacochemistry. This work aims to analyze the phytochemical composition of the aboveground parts in three Stellaria species (S. bungeana, S. graminea, S. holostea). The study was conducted between May and July 2020 in the Moscow region of the Russian Federation. Yield values for raw herbal materials and density of stitchwort samples per 1 m2 (154 sites in total) were recorded, followed by a phytochemical analysis of the dry mass by chromatography. The maximum yield of S. bungeana was established to be 1.5 times higher than in two other species (p ≤ 0.05). In S. graminea, the maximum pectin concentration was 12 times higher than in S. holostea (p ≤ 0.001) and 0.5 times higher than in S. bungeana (p ≤ 0.05). The number of polysaccharides in S. bungeana was 14 times higher than in S. graminea (p ≤ 0.001) and two higher than in S. holostea (p ≤ 0.05). Hemicellulose content of S. bungeana extract was twice as high as that of other species (p ≤ 0.05). Tannins in S. graminea were found two times more often than in S. holostea (p ≤ 0.05) and eight times more often in S. bungeana (p ≤ 0.01). Vitamin C content in S. graminea was two times greater than in the other two stitchwort species (p ≤ 0.05). Stitchwort is a common, widespread plant that makes it easy to collect without harming plant communities. Biologically active substances (polysaccharides, vitamin C, tannins, and pectins) were found in the composition of all stitchwort species with a preventive and therapeutic effect on the human body. The concentration of tannins and vitamin C is maximal in S. graminea extract, amounting to 2.6% and 45.9%, accordingly. The extract from S. bungeana contains a lot of hemicellulose (13.2%) and polysaccharides (7.2%). No high concentration of these substances was recorded in S. holostea, which makes this species the least pharmaceutically valuable. S. graminea and S. bungeana plants can be recommended for pharmaceutical processing due to the high concentrations of vitamin C, pectins, tannins, polysaccharides, and hemicellulose.

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The purpose of the study is to analyze the impact of the Covid-changed learning environment on the assessment of mobile applications for learning STEM disciplines. The study presents the results of the surveys of teachers (n = 38, age 32-52) and students (n = 188, age 19-21) of Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and Kazan Federal University. The participants evaluated the effectiveness of mobile applications designed to study STEM disciplines. A thorough analysis of three apps dedicated to STEM learning and nine auxiliary niche apps allowed revealing their pros and cons, in particular, expanded student opportunities, the ability to study while staying in the Russian Federation, the availability of a Russian-language version, and the ability to make an appointment (for teachers or students). Due to the increased use of mobile devices by young people, the time frame for completing lessons and motivation to accomplish assignments (tasks related to engineering, solving problems in a notebook, taking notes, completing assignments on the device and in the notebook) were also defined as important. The analysis of mobile apps in the context of distance and blended learning unveiled that, in addition to the well-known criteria, the assessment of such learning means should also make allowance for the possibility to complete tasks outside the digital space, screen time reduction capacity, and accessibility for users. Learning based on a mobile application must be planned to encourage student thinking, the desire to obtain good results, and involvement in project activity.