REMOTE STUDY COURSE

The course covers the issue of protecting the higher mental functions and metacognitive abilities in people of the "third" age through the use of virtual learning environment, which is based on interactive virtual objects. The remote study course is designed based on "Moodle" educational platform. The article states the course comprises six modules consisting of the interactive simulators divided into complexity levels and the role exercises. The attention is drawn to the fact that this remote course is distinguished for its purpose of not obtaining the knowledge, but general stimulating of cognitive aspect. The course contains no strict rules due to the psycho-emotional peculiarities of age of potential participants. The optimal interaction is recognized to be the active one between each participant and course administrator, where the participant may independently choose its own pace of implementation of tasks, their scope, and progress route from one module to another. The article states that the analysis of the issue required transformation of the age range of hypothetical participants of the course and moving the bottom age limit to 50 years in order to timely minimize the involutive changes of higher mental functions and reduction of gerontophobia with people of pre-retirement period. It is noted that it is important to observe the reduction of problems concerning mental functions and existing motivation by an ageing person. Special attention is paid to the fact that the attitude to individual mental preservation in one's old age is an indicator of social maturity of the individual.