Changing Times: The Impact of Digitalization on the Behavior of Professionals and Their Perception towards Development

Abstract

In 2020, the educational system was taken by surprise by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the educational institutions were delivering face-to-face classes and were forced to switch to online teaching in a very short period of time due to lockdown measures and the health and safety measures put in place by public authorities. In addition to universities, professional courses were also forced to be delivered online. Most of the time, these professional courses are important because they are directly linked to keeping the right to practice. The present paper focuses on the changing pattern in behavior of professionals and their acceptance of online courses. By applying over 1000 questionnaires in a timespan of more than one year, we have studied the impact of digitalization on the behavior and perception of professionals. We measured if the change towards online courses could be sustainable in the long run. The results of our study show that the behavior of professionals is different than those of students and that the online courses can be a long-term solution for education in professional environments.