Analysis of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Education in the Context of the Accelerated Digital Transformation of Higher Education

Over the past few years, the higher education system has undergone radical transformations. The aim of this paper is to analyze a retrospective reflection on the experience of forced digitalization in the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. One of the promising methods of assessing changes and their impacts is to conduct longitudinal sociological research. The methodology of this study consists of several modules: 1. a literature review; 2. the formation of a summary; 3. a sociological survey in the pandemic period; 4. a sociological survey in the post-pandemic period; 5. an analysis of the transformation of attitudes toward distance education; and 6. a comparison of the results obtained with a summary table of the literature review. Engineering students in different courses participated in the survey. A total of 652 respondents took part in the first stage and 194 in the second stage. The interval between the stages was two years. According to the results of the study, the conclusions were made that the positive answers of the respondents are most influenced by their expectations; so, they are much less dependent on the year of study and local peculiarities of the university, which are also confirmed by the new characteristic patterns noted in the paper. At the same time, the shortcomings are to a greater extent based on specific local peculiarities. The paper offers a generalized methodological approach for further study of this topic.