Higher Education in Uzbekistan: Transition to Digital Learning

Abstract

The author analyzes stages of digitalization and the emergence of new digital technologies, which represent a huge educational potential. The possibilities of digital technologies in the educational process of the university are also considered. The economic development in Uzbekistan presupposes an active position of the educational community in analyzing and developing new proposals in the context of digitalization of higher professional education. The situation is such that it is simply impossible for us not to use digital in order to keep up with further processes of informatization and digitalization in education. The article discusses the benefits and some challenging aspects that have impacted Uzbek Universities and Technical Institutes (HEIs of Uzbekistan) as they continue to educate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reflects the impact of unprecedented COVID-19 on the educational services of higher education institutions. There was suddenly an expectation that universities would adhere to COVID-19 prevention measures, including social distancing and hygiene. As a result, many universities have switched to remote transfer of knowledge and courses. This article encourages university leaders to embrace online teaching methods and digital learning systems that support universities to continue educational processes in the post-COVID-19 era. The author conclude that the digitalization of education is changing the content of the courses taught, as well as the flow of information, this is not only presentations or videos, but these are also direct connections to information networks, databases, forums. The article summarizes, demonstrating key implications for university presidents and identifying future research directions for academia.