FEATURES OF THE DISTANCE LEARNING ORGANIZATION AT UNIVERSITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

Distance education is becoming in demand in many universities in the country. At the beginning of 2020, an epidemiological situation arose in Russia and the world, which showed that distance learning is the safest way to get an education. But not all Russian universities were ready to quickly switch to distance learning. This led to some difficulties: the load increased on all actors of the educational process, the technical problems of the university and students became actualized, there was a need for additional time for adaptation of students, teachers, and university administration. As a result, the level of satisfaction with the learning process has changed. The purpose of this publication is to characterize the features of the organization of distance learning and identify its future prospects (using the example of Perm State National Research University). The empirical base of the study is materials of a survey of university students about their satisfaction with online learning. The authors assess three areas: 1) the level of material and technical equipment of students; 2) changes that have occurred in the organization of training (workload, time for completing assignments, mastering educational material, academic performance); 3) prospects of distance learning (limitations and reasons for their occurrence, merits). In practical terms, the study can clarify the need to expand distance learning in all universities in the country. Distance learning can become an effective alternative to classical education if state authorities and local governments finance distance learning, if universities provide trainings on organizing and conducting classes in an online format.