Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education

The forced work of Russian universities remotely in the context of the pandemic (COVID-19) has generated a lot of discussion about the benefits of the new form of education. The first results were summed up and reports were presented, the materials of which showed that the main goal of online educat...

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Main Author: Yu. M. Tsygalov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: North-West institute of management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 2020-11-01
Series:Управленческое консультирование
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.acjournal.ru/jour/article/view/1548
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author Yu. M. Tsygalov
author_facet Yu. M. Tsygalov
author_sort Yu. M. Tsygalov
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description The forced work of Russian universities remotely in the context of the pandemic (COVID-19) has generated a lot of discussion about the benefits of the new form of education. The first results were summed up and reports were presented, the materials of which showed that the main goal of online education — the prevention of the spread of infection, - has been achieved. Against this background, proposals and publications have appeared substantiating the effectiveness of the massive introduction of distance learning in Russia, including in higher education. However, the assessment of such training by the population and students in publications and in social networks was predominantly negative and showed that the number of emerging problems exceeds the possible benefits of the new educational technology. Based on the analysis of the materials of publications and personal experience of teaching online, the potential benefits and problems of distance learning in higher education in Russia are considered. It is proposed to consider the effects separately for the suppliers of new technology (government, universities) and consumers (students, teachers, society). It is substantiated that the massive introduction of online education allows not only to reduce the negative consequences of epidemics, but also to reduce budgetary funding for universities, optimize the age composition of teachers, and reduce the cost of maintaining educational buildings. However, there will be a leveling / averaging of the quality of education, and responsibility for the quality of training will shift from the state/universities to students. The critical shortcomings of online education are the low degree of readiness of the digital infrastructure, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the work of students, information security problems, and the lack of trust in such training of the population. The massive use of online education creates a number of risks for the country, the most critical of which is the destruction of the higher education system and a drop in the effectiveness of personnel training. The consequences of this risk realization are not compensated by any possible budget savings.
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spelling doaj.art-764ad9e9f2754d2cb4016a2257a23c482024-02-29T09:36:16ZengNorth-West institute of management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public AdministrationУправленческое консультирование1726-11391816-85902020-11-01010617310.22394/1726-1139-2020-10-61-731361Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher EducationYu. M. Tsygalov0Financial University under the Government of the Russian FederationThe forced work of Russian universities remotely in the context of the pandemic (COVID-19) has generated a lot of discussion about the benefits of the new form of education. The first results were summed up and reports were presented, the materials of which showed that the main goal of online education — the prevention of the spread of infection, - has been achieved. Against this background, proposals and publications have appeared substantiating the effectiveness of the massive introduction of distance learning in Russia, including in higher education. However, the assessment of such training by the population and students in publications and in social networks was predominantly negative and showed that the number of emerging problems exceeds the possible benefits of the new educational technology. Based on the analysis of the materials of publications and personal experience of teaching online, the potential benefits and problems of distance learning in higher education in Russia are considered. It is proposed to consider the effects separately for the suppliers of new technology (government, universities) and consumers (students, teachers, society). It is substantiated that the massive introduction of online education allows not only to reduce the negative consequences of epidemics, but also to reduce budgetary funding for universities, optimize the age composition of teachers, and reduce the cost of maintaining educational buildings. However, there will be a leveling / averaging of the quality of education, and responsibility for the quality of training will shift from the state/universities to students. The critical shortcomings of online education are the low degree of readiness of the digital infrastructure, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and monitoring the work of students, information security problems, and the lack of trust in such training of the population. The massive use of online education creates a number of risks for the country, the most critical of which is the destruction of the higher education system and a drop in the effectiveness of personnel training. The consequences of this risk realization are not compensated by any possible budget savings.https://www.acjournal.ru/jour/article/view/1548higher schooldistance educationpositive and negative effectsrisksconsequencesquality averagingdemotivation
spellingShingle Yu. M. Tsygalov
Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
Управленческое консультирование
higher school
distance education
positive and negative effects
risks
consequences
quality averaging
demotivation
title Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
title_full Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
title_fullStr Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
title_full_unstemmed Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
title_short Effects and Risks of Distance Learning in Higher Education
title_sort effects and risks of distance learning in higher education
topic higher school
distance education
positive and negative effects
risks
consequences
quality averaging
demotivation
url https://www.acjournal.ru/jour/article/view/1548
work_keys_str_mv AT yumtsygalov effectsandrisksofdistancelearninginhighereducation