Digitalization of Russian higher education: Educational process technologies (experience of universities of the Ural Federal District of Russian Federation)

Abstract

The Russian higher school is in constant transformation, which is associated with the entry of the Russian Federation into the world market of educational services. To achieve the goals of positioning Russian universities in world rankings, various federal projects are being created, for example, within the framework of the state program “Development of Education” for 2019-2025, the project “Modern Digital Educational Environment in the Russian Federation” has been developed. To analyze the readiness of Russian universities for digital transformation, a study was conducted in which students of universities of the Ural Federal District (N = 300) took part, who evaluated the degree of implementation of various digital technologies in the educational process at the moment. It is for students as the main consumers of educational services to master the digital components of the educational process, to use technical means. The results of the study revealed the high willingness of students to work in a digital educational environment, the use of distance learning. Moreover, a higher level of readiness was demonstrated by students of technical and IT areas. At the same time, a contradiction was revealed between the readiness of students and their perception of the technical equipment of universities and the willingness of teachers to carry out the educational process in the new digital environment. Obviously, the use of centralized digital technologies (included by universities in the educational process) is significantly inferior to the students' spontaneous development of instant messengers, smartphone applications, and other software that facilitates the development of courses and disciplines (initiated by students on their own). Thus, to implement state programs to create a digital educational environment, it is necessary to strengthen the technical infrastructure of universities and improve the qualifications of teachers for the effective implementation of digitalization processes in higher education.