Pandemic Testing of the Sustainability of Emerging Trends in Higher Education

Abstract

The article is devoted to objectifying the consequences of the emergency transition to distance education in universities and the global decline in academic mobility during the 2020 pandemic through the prism of active implementation of the methodology of success and excellence in education. The author highlighted the current trends in education by the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century: increasing inequality in the education system; the predominance of the idea and methodology of success and excellence; a stable division into global and regional; the replacement of the model of internalization of values with the model of knowledge generation; refusal of targeted state subsidies in favor of self-financing; precarization of the middle teaching class; demonstration of the superiority of digital solutions in the translation of knowledge; creation of outsourcing chains of interaction in the educational sphere (research centers – universities, universities – commercial publishing houses, schools – career guidance centers, universities – online plaftorms, etc.). The article analyzes the aspects of changes in the modern model of higher education, taking into account the desire to position universities in the world educational rankings. The basis for a discussion of the choice of development priorities has been formed, taking into account the growing dissatisfaction of teachers with the need to match the model of success and excellence in their educational and scientific activities. It was found that pre-pandemic trends in education were multidirectional, and their impact on education systems and learning models (global or regional) was more stimulating for development, rather than mandatory for survival. The crisis has divided the manifestations of the new into two components: necessary renewal and sufficient improvement to ensure stability. It is noted that education is characterized by a fairly conservative approach to the organization of the educational process, so the extreme transition to distance learning during the pandemic actually replaced the evolutionary period of transformation of education, which would have lasted for more than one decade. Academic mobility, which has become widespread in the world, but which was forced to temporarily stop its activity during the pandemic, in the new conditions can continue to contribute to improving the ranking of universities, but can also carry threats of precarization to their working teachers and become a source of social tension, which should be taken into account when developing university development programs in the context of universal digitalization. Conclusions are drawn about trends have been tested by the pandemic reality, which will determine the vector of future development of higher education. Acknowledgements. The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 20-04-60109.

Digital transformation of education in the Arctic: case of North-Eastern Federal University

“…The 2020 pandemic has stimulated a completely total shift to distance learning technologies -both for teachers and students. A similar situation has developed in all universities of the country and the globe: "the rapid transition of one of the most massive systems of higher education in the world to a distance format -450 universities in two weeks" [5], "the evolutionary period of transformation of education, which would have lasted for more than one decade" [6], "the pandemic has accelerated the speed of digitalization" [7], "the use of distance education using digital tools in higher education has increased particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic" [11].…”

“…-NEFU is one of the co-founders of the University Consortium of Big Data Researchers together with Targeted work on the development of the electronic informational and educational system allowed creating a basis for the further development of the digital ecosystem of the university, capable to solve the problems of improving and developing the scientific and educational activities of the university. At the moment, NEFU operates an electronic informational and educational system, developed in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard for the conditions of education and taking into account the experience of Russian universities [1], [6]. The electronic informational and educational system of NEFU provides users with the following information services:…”

“…The analysis of management decisions of universities during the pandemic showed "excessive rigidity and inflexibility of the educational process of universities [5]. An expert assessment revealed the need of a significant transformation of higher education management [1], [5], "necessary renewal and sufficient improvement to ensure stability" [6]. One of such solutions in many universities is the development of programs for digital transformation of universities.…”

Education Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Teachers and Learners Construction

“…Generally, the success of sustainability of education process is determined by several factors, are; local and global collaboration; maximize digital technology; organizing national cultural differences; and use of the resources as good as possible (Caniglia et al, 2017). The key of sustainability of learning is adjusting the teaching methods, leadership models, and interaction techniques applied, using digital as the basis technology (Antyukhova & Kasatkin, 2021;Sá & Serpa, 2020). Sustainability of learning should lead learners to have a critical thinking in driving social change and instill a new vision and paradigm to make this world a better place for all its inhabitants (Wolff, 2020).…”