Some Trends in the Development of the Russian Higher Education in the Digital Age

About the author:

Gennady F. Shafranov-Kutsev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education, Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Professor, Department of General and Economic Sociology, Research Advisor of University of Tyumen; ORCID: 0000-0001-7823-0525, Scopus ID: 56728858400, Researcher ID: N-5782-2017, RSCI, g.f.kucev@utmn.ru

Abstract:

This article studies some patterns of the education development in a digital society. The pace and scale of the digital age’s arrival determine the state of the education system. This article presents some of the global changes in the education system and its latest development trends. They are the signs of modernization, caused by the numerous opportunities of the new information technologies. In the conditions of technological, commercial, and informational diversity, the requirements for educational activity are fundamentally changing. The rapid social and cultural transformations present problems for the modern youth as they try to live their lives. Thus, the main task of the education system is to form the carriers of system knowledge, competences, and generators of new ideas and projects. The higher education for the young people becomes a social imperative, which acquires a mass character. There is a need for wider involvement of also investments from family budgets, various structures of civil society for its financing, besides the budgetary funds.

The modern high-quality education is the main engine of the digital era — a new post-industrial technological order. Investment into education leads to the accumulation of human capital, which provides an appropriate level of competitiveness for a person, nation, and a country.

An increase in life expectancy, together with an increase in the retirement age, led to a marked increase in the educational activity of the older population, for whom the retraining and the continuing education are necessary to maintain their working capacity and the social niche. Various forms of electronic distance education are becoming increasingly widespread.

The author presents the analysis of the processes, forming the human capital. The materials of sociological research show the processes of digitalization among the working youth.

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