Blended Educational Technologies in the New Normalcy

Abstract

Cardinal changes that radically and rapidly shift the rules of existence of modern society inevitably affect the field of education, its organizational, informational and methodological components. The discussion about the correlation and priority of forms of education has acquired particular relevance. Distance forms of education, their advantages, as well as the problems they generate, have become one of the central points of controversy. Comprehensive and compromise solutions, involving a combination of classical (classroom) and remote methodological forms, or the so-called blended learning. The focus of this paper is on models and methods for evaluating the processes of development of new forms and technologies of educational activities both in the foreseeable and in the medium term. The empirical part of the study is based on the experience of the authors at the Institute of Economics and Management of the Herzen State Pedagogical University (St.-Petersburg, Russia). The general econometric analysis conducted within the framework of the study allowed us to conclude that the attitude towards distance and blended forms of education will stabilize by 2022. At the generalized level, this attitude can be characterized by the relative prevalence of a positive position. In-depth analysis of attitudes towards new educational forms was carried out on the basis of binary econometric models (logit models). The main result of this analysis was the thesis that it is possible to identify «efficiency» as the leading factor determining the positive attitude to distance learning. The research allows us to conclude that the processes of integration of new methodological forms into the educational process are irreversible. This is due to the stagnation and shrinking of the resource base of the education sector, on the one hand, and the qualitative increase in the competitive capabilities of educational institutions through the use of new technological capabilities, on the other hand.