Online education: key trends and barriers

Abstract

The key trends and obstacles in the development of education in Russia have been considered in the article. It has been shown, that the education system, formed in the previous technological way, does not meet the needs of modern society. The main modern trend in the development of education is the introduction of digital technologies and in particular the transition from the traditional “classroom” model of learning to online education. This direction is now actively developing abroad and seems prospective in Russia. At the same time, there is a number of obstacles, that significantly inhibit its development. The main one is still not the existing system of recognition of equality of online education to its traditional forms. This problem is typical not only for our country and can be solved at the legislative level by developing the system of legislative regulation and standardization of sphere of education. Another obstacle is the continuing lack of implementation of online technologies in the educational process by educational organizations themselves, due to both the lack of development of the digital infrastructure and the need to train teachers of the new formation, who can work effectively in the digital environment. This problem can be solved by full-scale digitalization of universities with the involvement of both public financing and private investment. The third major obstacle to the full transition to online education is the very low percentage of students, who complete courses successfully. At the same time, opinion polls show, that Russian students themselves are not ready to accept digital education as a full-fledged one. The correction of this situation requires the introduction of technological and organizational solutions in the field of education, aimed at adapting the educational system to the dynamically changing needs of the labor market, individualization of educational trajectories and increasing the involvement of students in the educational process.