Digital transformation in assessments and perceptions of university teachers

This paper is based on the findings of the research work “Modern methodology for analyzing the process and effectiveness of distance education”, conducted by the team of the Field Research Center of the Institute for Social Analysis and Forecasting (RANEPA) in 2021. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our colleagues at the Field Research Center have conducted three waves of survey among university teachers dedicated to the urgent transition to distance learning and the ongoing digital transformation of universities. The results of the last third wave (April-May 2021) are presented in this paper. The hypotheses proposed at the start of the project have been confirmed: the respondents’ attitude to distance learning gets back to normal over time, and “hybrid” or mixed form of education begins to be perceived as a norm. However, these processes continue to take place in contrast to the stagnant problems in higher education. The overlapping of problems that have arisen due to the complexity of the higher education administration reform at its different stages creates a diversity of risks and opportunities in the process of digital transformation. The authors of this work would like not only to describe the current situation and the objective difficulties accompanying any changes, but present a map of the “bottlenecks” of modern distance learning, the “anxious moods” of certain social groups within the teaching community. The attention focused on these groups can relieve the stress of the transition to distance learning