The Chinese Students' Digital Competencies Formation in the Educational Space of the Russian University

Abstract

In the past two decades, in the context of internationalization of higher education, the formation of a digital society in Russia and overseas the requirements for higher education have changed significantly. Digital skills and competencies should be acquired by a person in the education system, so the role of higher education and learning in general is growing. The Chinese students’ influx to the Russian universities is increasing, which presents a challenge for the Russian universities to develop the digital skills of the Chinese students demanded on the global labor market. The main objectives of the study were to determine the basic digital competencies that Chinese students need to form in the process of training at the Russian higher school. The study was conducted at three universities in Yekaterinburg. The research methodology combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The primary data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. 500 Russian and 500 Chinese students were questioned on the basis of quota sampling. In-depth interviews with 50 experts were conducted. The study has revealed the basic digital competencies required by Chinese students. They include: the ability to quickly respond to the intensification of ICT development, the ability to independently master and create innovations, the ability to work in network organizations with a decentralized management system (including Russian-Chinese), the skill of continuous self-education, the skill of self-study situation analysis and the skills of operational decision making. The research has found that in modern Russia there is a need to coordinate interstate, regional and university levels of innovative educational cooperation between Russia and China, to train Russian highly qualified specialists for the implementation of bilateral digital educational cooperation and to increase the financial component of the innovative development of the Russian-Chinese educational cooperation.
 Keywords: digitalization of higher education, digital competencies, Chinese students, the educational space of the Russian university, the interaction of the Russian and the Chinese higher schools