Digital Transformation of Universities: The Influence of COVID-19 and Students’ Perception

Abstract

<p>On account of the disruptive nature of the COVID-19 disease, the present paper aims to analyze the main repercussions of the pandemic over the field of education. The objective is twofold: (1) To describe the process of digitalization and digital transformation of educational institutions, (2) To analyze student’s insight regarding the implementation of hybrid methodologies of learning and identify potential differences in perception across university degrees. A structured literature review on the resonance of the COVID-19 pandemic over education is performed. From this, the concept of the Digital Divide is risen to prominence, as education digitalization has managed to broaden global social inequalities. In this context the prevailing E-learning methodologies are detailed, outlining the differences between asynchronous and synchronous format. The topic of Blended Learning is put forward, detailing the diverse hybrid education models present in the actual paradigm of education.<br />In order to analyze and measure the perception of students regarding education digitalization, a survey based on validated scales is conducted among 305 university students in Spain. A statistical analysis reveals that the most frequently implemented teaching model within the COVID-19 scenario is the mixture of in-person and synchronous remote lessons. In addition to this, overall satisfaction, perception of workload and confidence in the professional future differs across branches of study. Finally, several implications for educational framework are presented.</p>

Towards skill-based evaluation in a hybrid learning context: an experience in Aircraft Maintenance

“…The present work attempted to investigate the effect of steering the evaluation from contentbased (open-answer test) to skill-based (written assignment forcing to navigate and integrate regulation text) on the acquisition of learning outcomes by students. The new assignment also contributes to the acquisition of three soft skills and is a more remote and digital-friendly activity, as it was motivated by the shift from on-site teaching to virtual or hybrid learning contexts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, already described by Erdmann et al (2021).…”

Digital Transformation in Higher Education: Drivers, Success Factors, Benefits and Challenges

“…To stay competitive, HEIs should adjust to a new reality, and the digital transformation is the only way forward. Even though the impact of COVID-19 was mentioned in previous research as one of the drivers for digital transformation in HEIs (Erdmann et al, 2021), the experts are united in the opinion that the process of digital transformation is natural and inevitable for higher education; COVID-19 has just accelerated it.…”

“…Although there are already several studies on the drivers, benefits, success factors, and barriers of digital transformation in higher education that had been identified in the previous literature, and the number of studies on the subject has accelerated during the last two years, there is still no concept unifying all aspects of digital transformation in higher education. Very few research mentions the negative impact of digital transformation in higher education, broadening global social inequalities is being one of them (Erdmann et al, 2021). By performing an umbrella review of the literature followed by an empirical study, the authors tend to cover this gap.…”

Technical university students’ feedback on studying English online under the COVID-19

“…A rapid shift from brick to click, seminar to webinar raised a lot of questions to be answered (Ubaid-ullah, 2021). The research on the issue of teaching online during the pandemic is devoted mostly to technical, psychological, and methodological aspects (Adarkwah, 2021;Alba-Linero et al, 2020;Erdmann et al, 2021;Gokuladas & Baby Sam, 2020;Kimmel et al, 2020).…”