Digitalization of Education: Analysis of Engagement and Socio-Demographic Features of Online Learning Participants

Abstract

The emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic required instructors and students to switch to distance learning. Although higher education institutions had used digital technologies way before the COVID-19 pandemic, necessity caused by long-term lockdowns showed that digitalization became a part of teaching and learning process. Higher education professors took advantage of digital technology to deliver their educational services with no physical contact between instructors and students. Many of them transferred from traditional and blended pedagogy to fully virtual learning and distant course delivery. The purpose is to consider educational environment rapid transformation, but also to analyze shortcomings of completely digital learning and the impact it has on students and instructors. To understand how they coped with the transition to learning in digital format, we studied how they feel about it. Using the questionnaire, we found two different groups of people in education: the first was more interested in digitalization and successfully coped with the tasks of online learning, and the second scored lower in both of these areas. When compared in terms of their socio-demographic characteristics, as well as assessing the relationship between each socio-demographic marker and engagement in coping, it was found that instructors and students did better with digitalization and online learning if they had had previous experience in blended education. The conducted research was based on the methodology of data collection and analysis, gives a broad overview of how technological innovations overcome limited space and time in students education. Diversified educational resources are created by digital technologies implementation in education various aspects and spheres. The article is concluded with a discussion of the problems that arise and ways and methods of their solution. Distance learning has both advantages and disadvantages, but it is definitely here to stay.