COVID-19 Infodemic and Social Responsibility of Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The chapter intends to investigate the influence caused by COVID-infodemic upon the functions carried out by Ukrainian HEIs. As the pandemic and lockdown quickly and unpredictably changed the form of educational activities, HEIs were faced with new challenges and had to demonstrate the updated approaches of their performance not only in educational activities but also as for their social functions. Based on the survey results, the chapter highlights the student's opinion on changes in the performance of the respective universities caused by COVID, infodemic and post-COVID society as well as student understanding of university mission “to contribute to the public good” under the new circumstances. Survey-based research showed that according to the student opinion, modern Ukrainian are to play a more important role in meeting the societal needs of the society, especially under the influence of unpredictable and controversial factors like COVID-infodemic.