Vocational Education with Social Distancing: Data from Online Platforms

Abstract

This is a study of how vocational education was transformed to deal with social distancing due to coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation. Data was taken from online delivery platforms such as Coursera, Timepad, and Edumarket. The demand for educational courses in Russia increased by 2.5 times in the first half of 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19. Despite this only 19% of learners are prepared to continue their learning after the quarantine measures are lifted. In the first half of 2020 programs on these platforms were focused on soft skills. There was an increase in programs for stress resistance, leadership, productivity, business, hobbies and art, parent-child relationships, and foreign language learning. The proportion of programs reliant on social communications decreased significantly. However, there was an increase courses in IT (blog / website development, machine learning), and medicine (ensuring safety in case of coronavirus infection, prevention of COVID-19, etc.). The study is of interest to the heads of regional educational departments, specialists of the continuing education in universities, professional educational organizations, non-governmental organizations of continuing education, labor exchange and those who are involved in continuing education and self-learning.