Institute of Sociology NASU

Higher education in a frontline city during the Russian-Ukrainian war: cumulative effects of prolonged online learning

stmm. 2025 (2): 116–134

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2025.02.116

Full text: https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2025-2/8.pdf

KATERYNA BATAEVA, Doctor of Sciences in Philosophy, Professor at the Department of Social Rehabilitation Technologies, Zhytomyr Institute of Economics and Humanities, University “Ukraine” (18, Vilskyi Shliakh St., Zhytomyr, 10020)

bataevaekaterina72@yahoo.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4628-4817

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57204186366

The article reveals the peculiarities of online learning at universities in a frontline city Kharkiv during the Russian-Ukrainian war; the effects of prolonged online learning for students are studied. The empirical part of the article is based on the results of a study conducted in November-October 2024 through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve higher education experts (department heads, deans, and professors from six Kharkiv universities). It is emphasized that the cumulative effects of prolonged online learning for students in the frontline city of Kharkiv have manifested themselves in a deterioration of the quality and results of students’ learning; difficulties in their academic socialization and involvement in research cooperation with teachers. The duration of online learning also negatively affected the teachers’ satisfaction with their professional activities in the absence of live communication with students in university classrooms. It is emphasized that the quantitative indicators of students’ academic performance at the universities of the frontline city of Kharkiv did not decrease due to the lower requirements for students’ academic performance, the possibility for students to use auxiliary learning materials when taking tests or writing exams online, and the inability of some students to participate in the learning process due to objective circumstances during the war. Despite the negative effects of online learning in the universities of the frontline city of Kharkiv, it is important to partially preserve online learning (in the context of blended learning) after the war, which will help the development and maintenance of professional contacts with Ukrainian teachers/researchers who are migrants and will enrich the social capital of frontline universities.

Keywords: online learning, frontline city, social capital, expert interview, Ukrainian teachers/researchers-migrants

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Received 07.03.2025

Accepted for publication after review 10.04.2025

Published 2025