Riskbek Rustamov
Title: EXPLORING STUDENT BARRIERS TO DISTANCE EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
Supervisor: Shobhit Shakya, MSc, MA
Opponent: Ully Enn, MA
Defense: 2-3 June 2022
Abstract: Nowadays, technology is developing alarmingly, and more and more Higher Education Institutions opt to exploit modern technologies so as to provide high-quality education for their learners. Distance education become a solution for the majority of universities in the current pandemic. However, most developing countries were not prepared for a sudden transformation of education towards e-learning. It is evident that there are a number of barriers and problems for students in terms of the acquisition of knowledge distantly. The purpose of the thesis is to gain theoretical knowledge of barriers and problems faced by students and Universities in the process of implementation of distance learning in Higher Education Institutions. The author chose to explore the case of Uzbekistan as the country is actively attempting to develop modern information and communication technologies and ongoing reforms in the context of the digitalization of the economy. The author puts an emphasis on the theoretical framework in which disruptive innovation is taken as distance learning has a tendency to disrupt the system with its modern technologies. The author is in favor of analyze what factors hinder students to get a distance education of high quality in Uzbekistan. This thesis is dependent on quantitative information which is held in a survey of students in Uzbekistan. Besides the fact that the survey was conducted through the making the form of a questionnaire which target audience has been researched regarding the types of questions.
Keywords: Distance education, Information and Communication Technologies, Higher Education Institutions, Student Barriers
