Prospects of the Post-Digital University: Analysis of Program Documents in the Field of Education

Abstract

Introduction. COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the architectonics of the global educational process. While many countries are still analyzing the consequences of the pandemic for education, the world’s largest institutions and organizations are already thinking about the future of education. The purpose of the article is to identify and summarize the prospects for the development of a post-digital university on the basis of this analysis. Materials and Methods. This article presents an analysis of a number of important documents of world organizations on the future prospects of the higher education system during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as official documents on education systems in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main methods of the proposed research are the analysis of program documents in the field of education, as well as a review of the philosophical literature of 2020‒2022 on the trends of the post-digital university. Results. In the worldʼs leading documents on the future of the education system it is shown that education is the main driving force of sustainable development. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented destabilization of the entire world education system. The analytical documents, in general, contains the following ideas: increasing the viability of education systems for sustainable development; rethinking education and accelerating positive transformations in teaching and learning. Based on the analysis of the situation, the documents suggested a number of effective measures, is the mains among which: digital transformation of universities; measures to support the research activities of universities. The article suggests that the digitalization of the educational process itself, described in the leading documents on education, will not lead to any results, unless it is accompanied by serious transformations in the content of education. Discussion and Conclusion. In a post-digital university, a radical paradigm shift is needed, the rejection of the neoliberal, standardized, algorithmic structure of the university, its transition to a socially significant, critical, responsible device. New technologies, as well as digitalization in education, should not be a goal, but a means. Only then can progress in education and significant social transformations be possible. The practical significance of this research of the authors lies in the analysis and generalization of strategically important program documents in the field of education on the prospects for the development of a post-digital university.