Perception of E-Learning by Consumers of Educational Services

Abstract

This paper attempts to assess the perception of online learning by consumers of educational services. The study is based on the cognitive approach, interpreting the person as a cognitive system, which is influenced by the communication arising in the learning environment, and education is defined as a process of communication, where the associated problems have a negative impact on the final educational product. We revealed the indicators which determine the perception of online education, among which we can name the following: the quality of communication, convenience of tools, students’ motivation and their ability to self-organization, responsiveness to innovations. The analysis of the scientific literature revealed that the works devoted to the perception of online education are of a private nature, depending on the specific country and its situation at the market of educational services. This puts the Russian scientific community in front of the need for scientific understanding of the perception of online education based on the situation observed in Russian higher education. It is concluded that the main problem of the image of Russian online education is an attempt of the Ministry of Education to combine two mutually exclusive approaches: to use online education as an innovative way to train specialists and the possibility to reduce the cost of the classical education. According to the author, online-education is not a competitor to classical education, because it is focused on a different audience and is based on different methodological and didactic principles. That is the reason why the work on improvement of perception of e-learning should begin with defining its place in the sphere of Russian education and the decision about it should be made by the Ministry of Education.