Digital Transformation in Education: social well-being and adaptation strategies (on the example of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia))

Zakharova Akulina E. ORCID: 0000-0003-4973-8375 PhD in Sociology Senior Researcher, Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous People Problems of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 678670, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1 linamestnikova@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction. In the mass consciousness, the distance learning format at school has become one of the significant consequences and results of the coronavirus pandemic. However, in Russia, the first state initiatives to support the introduction of digital technologies into educational organizations of general education appeared at the end of the twentieth century, when the implementation of the first state program in the USSR began to provide all educational organizations with computers and the introduction of mandatory computer science training programs for students at all levels of education ^[1]. After 1991, the informatization of education at the state level was practically suspended, and only 1.5 decades later, with the launch of the priority national project "Education" in 2006, a new stage of digitalization of education began. The process that began in the early 2000s with the introduction of information and communication technologies into the educational process, with equipping educational organizations with modern computers, connecting them to high-speed Internet, computer training of teachers, in the 2020s was accelerated by an emergency transition to the digital format of the educational process organization in connection with the introduction of restrictive measures on COVID-19. The scale and speed of solving the tasks of digital transformation have become one of the "big challenges" for all participants in the educational process.

One of the tasks of the sociological study "The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and big challenges: social well-being, mobility and adaptation strategies" (head: Doctor of Sociology E. G. Maklashova), devoted to the study of social well-being, mobility and adaptation strategies of various social groups of the population of Yakutia under the influence of big challenges, was to determine how the transformation of educational institutions The system changes the opportunities for social mobility of groups and individuals in the context of inequality problems ^{[2; 3; 4]}. If even before the pandemic it was possible to say that in the conditions of digitalization of educational services, infrastructural restrictions are a negative factor that significantly narrows the prospects for social mobility of students and determines sub-regional differences in the process of social stratification, then in this situation it is necessary to pay attention to the results of scaling digital education to all levels of educational systems. The disclosure of this task will allow us to determine the impact of changed conditions on the well-being of individual social groups.

Methods and materials. The mass sociological survey was conducted in 2021-2022 in five socio-economic zones of Yakutia: central, southern, eastern, western and Arctic. The study used a multi-stage quota sample of respondents with interdependent characteristics of the general population: gender, age, place of residence. The sample totaled 1,320 respondents (95% confidence interval, 3.5% margin of error).

The gender distribution was 45.5% male, 54.5% female; by age: 3.3% - 15-19 years old, 8.7% - 20-24 years old, 10.7% - 25-29 years old, 12.5% - 30-34 years old, 13.2% - 35-39 years old, 11.5% - 40-44 years old, 9.0% - 45-49 years old, 9.0% - 50-54 years old, 9.5% - 55-59 years old, 6.9% - 60-64 years old, 3.3% - 65-69 years old, 24% - 70 and older.

Geographically, the distribution of respondents was 53.6% in the central, 16.7% in the southern, 2.8% in the eastern, 19.3% in the western, and 7.6% in the Arctic zones. 64% of urban and 36% of rural residents were interviewed. 56.3% of Yakuts, 24.9% of Russians and 10.3% of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North participated in the study.

The input and statistical processing of primary sociological information was carried out using the SPSS software package using frequency, correlation and factor analysis.

The study also used data from quantitative and qualitative sociological studies conducted by the author in 2020-2023, the purpose of which was to identify the attitude of participants in the educational process to the organization of distance education in the system of general and higher education of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The results and their discussion. During the pandemic, the education system faced such problems as insufficient technological support for participants in the educational process, insufficient quality and quantity of methodological materials and developments for distance learning in various subjects, lack of necessary digital experience and competencies among teachers, heads of educational organizations and methodologists designed to help them in new working conditions, psychological unpreparedness of teachers, students and their parents to a distance learning format with high psycho-emotional stress due to massive forced restrictive measures.

According to the results of the sociological study "The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and big challenges: social well-being, mobility and adaptation strategies", a third of respondents noted that compared with the period before the pandemic, their families began to live slightly worse (31.4%); they began to live much worse (8.9%), however, the majority chose the option "nothing has changed" (44%). Among the most tangible consequences of the pandemic, respondents noted an increased level of stress, psychological tension (44.9%), an increase in time spent on social networks and the Internet in general (31.7%), an increase in financial burden, expenses (28.8%), as well as problems with remote work and study – 26.8%.

Despite the existing gap between urban and rural territories in certain areas of digital transformation of general education and significant territorial and settlement differentiation in terms of accessibility and quality of telecommunications services, according to the survey, there is no significant disparity in stating the existence of problems related to remote work and study depending on the place of residence. About a third of rural (31.3%) and a quarter of urban residents (23.2%) experienced certain problems with remote work and study, the majority of respondents (76.8% of urban residents and 68.7% of villagers) did not experience such problems. Geographically, the largest percentage of those who have experienced such problems live in the Arctic zone (29.4%), followed by the southern (27.4%), western (26.9%), central (26.1%) and eastern (18.4%) zones of Yakutia.

In the distribution by field of activity, more than a third of respondents employed in the field of preschool and school education (35.7%), agriculture (35.7%), culture (35%), communications (34.8%) and consumer services (37.5%) agreed that the remote mode of work and study caused them difficulties.

According to the sociological research, the majority of respondents (59.3%) expressed satisfaction with the state, quality and accessibility of education, the percentage of those dissatisfied with this situation to one degree or another was 35.4% (Fig.1).

Figure 1 – Distribution of answers to the question "Are you satisfied with the state, quality and accessibility of education", 2022, in % ^{[5, p. 90]}

The number of residents satisfied with the condition, quality and accessibility of education in their own locality is higher in rural areas than in the city. The options "fully satisfied" and "rather satisfied" were chosen by 13.3% and 51.3% of rural respondents, which together amounts to 64.6%; "rather dissatisfied" and "completely dissatisfied" - 20% and 7.9%. Urban residents turned out to be a little more demanding and critical in their assessments – 9.7% are completely satisfied with education issues in the cities of Yakutia, 47.1% are rather satisfied, 28.6% are rather dissatisfied, 10.5% of citizens are completely dissatisfied.

The distribution of the level of satisfaction with the state of education, depending on the area of residence of the respondents, is shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Distribution of the degree of satisfaction with the state, quality and accessibility of education in a locality depending on the area of residence, 2022, in %

It was interesting to identify the attitude of the teaching staff themselves to the professional sphere – teachers and teachers of preschool education. 207 teachers participated as respondents in this study. The majority of teachers were rather satisfied with the state, quality and accessibility of education in their locality (55.6%), the percentage of those who were rather dissatisfied is 25.1%.

In our opinion, this situation generally characterizes the high level of trust and appreciation of the residents of the republic to the pedagogical community, to teachers and educators. Despite the difficulties and problems with the initial emergency transition to a distance learning format during the pandemic, when the education system adequately met the "storm of the first weeks", when every parent became involved in the educational process, when the school "entered" every home through digital technologies and educational resources, most Yakut residents expressed satisfaction with the condition, quality and access to education, regardless of place of residence and field of activity.

In terms of distance learning at all levels of the education system – from general education schools, additional education organizations to educational institutions that train highly qualified personnel with higher education, the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of education depend on the availability of high-speed Internet connection for schools and the development of information and telecommunications infrastructure of schools, the development of the material and technical base of educational organizations, the development of digital skills and competencies of teachers and students ^[6].

According to the study, about half of the respondents (41.5%) are more or less dissatisfied with the quality of Internet connection in their place of residence: 25.5% chose the option "rather dissatisfied", 16% chose "completely dissatisfied", 3.9% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.

The highest level of dissatisfaction with the quality of Internet communication was expressed by residents of the Arctic regions (54.9% are completely dissatisfied, 27.5% are rather dissatisfied) and respondents from the western zone of the republic (20.9% are completely dissatisfied, 25.2% are rather dissatisfied). It is natural that residents of the central and southern regions of Yakutia, where the percentage of connection of settlements, including remote ones, to the fiber optic network is higher and the connection to the mobile network is stable enough, experience problems with the quality of Internet communication to a much lesser extent (49.9% and 43.8% are rather satisfied, 13.2% and 14.6% are completely satisfied).

Table 2.

Distribution of the degree of satisfaction with the quality of Internet connection in the place of residence, depending on the area of residence, 2022, in %

The study also revealed a higher level of requirements regarding the quality of Internet communication among urban residents: 42.9% of citizens are more or less dissatisfied with the quality of communication services provided, which is 4% higher than among rural residents (38.9%).

Thus, one of the results of the study was the conclusion about a significant territorial and settlement differentiation in terms of accessibility and quality of Internet communication services, which, based on the characteristics of settlement, actually leads to a digital divide, an increase in educational inequality between rural and urban residents, especially depending on the area of residence.

During an interview with teachers of the I.N. Kulbertinov Tian Secondary School of the Olekminsky district, teachers shared their memories of how the educational process was organized during the period of restrictive measures on coronavirus in a remote village. It should be noted that in p. Tian is a national park where the Evenk language and unique culture have been preserved, traditional economic activities – mountain taiga reindeer herding and traditional crafts – and at the moment there is no high-speed Internet connection. The school and the local administration are connected to the Internet, but with significant traffic restrictions, and the population mainly uses satellite antennas to access the Internet. According to informants, monthly Internet expenses amount to more than 10 thousand rubles, and during the pandemic and distance learning, expenses could reach 25 thousand rubles per month. From an interview with a teacher of the Tian Secondary School: "Teachers prepared materials for lessons on pieces of paper (like slides for presentations, but in paper form) and then went to distribute them around the village – to each child. Bags and backpacks (like mailboxes) were hung on the fence near each student's house, and teachers handed out assignments before lunch, and after lunch they collected completed assignments. For almost a year (!) the teachers lived in this mode." Thanks to the unprecedented and dedicated work of rural teachers during the pandemic, the cooperation of the school and the administration, the involvement and interest of parents, students were able to pass the final certification at a decent level, the quality and accessibility of education were not affected by digital inequality and restrictions on Internet access.

However, the format of distance education in general education institutions has not ceased to exist with the lifting of restrictions on COVID-19. In Yakutia, where harsh climatic conditions annually impose their own weather restrictions due to frosts of more than -50 degrees, strong winds and fogs, during the so-called "active" days, schools of the republic introduce a distance learning regime. The right of students, regardless of their place of residence, to be able to continue their studies using digital technologies dictates the need for a stable and accessible Internet connection. Within the framework of the republican socially-oriented project "Synergy of the Arctic", the operator of which is JSC ArktikTelecom, it is planned to connect 86 remote settlements of Yakutia with more than 72 thousand inhabitants to high-speed Internet within three years. In the Olekminsky district, this program reaches the villages of Tokko and Dapparai. In 2023-2024, due to the financial support of Nordgold, the fiber-optic communication line is planned to be extended to the village of Tyan, where about 450 people live.  "The laying of a cable line from the villages of Tokko and Dapparai through Byay-Kyuel to Tyani, which will be financed by Nordgold, will help eliminate digital inequality and open up new opportunities for people of all ages living in these villages, from schoolchildren to pensioners," said Andrey Varlamov, head of the Nordgold representative office in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) ^[7].

According to the indicators in the field of digital transformation of education related to the sphere of activity of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, by 2030 it is expected that "all teaching staff will have the opportunity to use verified digital educational content and digital educational services, as well as all students will have free access to verified digital educational content and services for independent training. In 2021, the values of these indicators amounted to 70 and 58%, respectively" ^{[8, p.174]}.

Since, in the context of digitalization of education, ensuring equal opportunities for children to receive high-quality school education presupposes stable access to digital educational resources and services, the lack of Internet connection, or its limitations due to the high cost of providing services, is one of the main factors of digital inequality, multiplying the gap between urban and rural schoolchildren.

Conclusions. The education system is one of the key sectors of the social sphere, which is directly influenced by the introduction of digital technologies. Problems related to the implementation of remote work and study, 26.8% of respondents attributed to one of the most tangible consequences of the pandemic. The majority of respondents (59.3%) expressed satisfaction with the state, quality and accessibility of education, the percentage of dissatisfied to one degree or another was 35.4%.

Despite the results achieved as part of the implementation of measures to ensure the connection of educational institutions to the Internet ^{[9; 10]}, at the moment the digital gap between urban and rural areas remains. About half of the respondents (41.5%) were more or less dissatisfied with the quality of Internet connection in their place of residence: 25.5% chose the option "rather dissatisfied", 16% chose "completely dissatisfied", 3.9% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.

The forced transition to digital education in Yakutia preserves the gap between urban and rural territories in certain areas of digital transformation of general education; the dynamics of growth of material and technical equipment and the introduction of individual software solutions in rural schools are lower than in urban ones; there is a significant territorial and settlement differentiation in accessibility and quality of telecommunication services, which, based on Due to the peculiarities of settlement, it actually leads to a digital divide, an increase in educational inequality and infringement of the rights of certain social groups of children.