Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 31st NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG7: Public Administration Education Author(s) Polya Katsamunska University of National and World Economy Sofia Bulgaria Title Exploring Digital Educational Transformation in Bulgaria Illustrated through the Experience of a Leading University File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Polya Katsamunska Abstract The paper is based on extensive review and analysis of the policy papers on digital transformation of the Bulgarian Higher Education System and its main objective is to examine the current situation and to outline the key challenges and perspectives in this process. The analysis is based on a research of the process of the education digitalization at one of the leading university in Bulgaria – University of National and World Economy (UNWE). Today digitalization has transformed society and the economy and its impact on everyday life is deepening. In Bulgaria there is a high awareness among all involved in the education system of the benefits of digitalisation and the role of government to support digital innovation in education. In reality, before the COVID-19 pandamic its impact on education and training was limited and not so dramatic but with the outbreak of the crisis the core academic activities were catapulted into the virtual world and this has led to the unprecedented use of technology for education and training purposes. Thus education in Bulgaria entered into a new age just like many other countries across the world. These new developments have largely determined the theoretical and methodological framework, and the analytical methods and tools, adopted and applied in the paper. They are basically drawn on studies and publications recently conducted by scholars and researchers, as well as on analyses of international organizations, media articles, survey of students’ experience, expert opinions and personal teaching experience and observations. The study looks at two stages of analysis. First, it examines the current state of digitalization at European and National level. Various European and national plans and programs are covered, which aim at the realization of digitalization of processes in the educational system. In Bulgaria the main national program is Digital Bulgaria 2025, which aims to modernize and implement new intelligent Information Technology solutions in all areas of economy, including the education system. The sector of higher education in Bulgaria involves in total 52 public and private universities. They have a high degree of autonomy and offer hundreds of different Bachelor and Master degree programs distributed into 52 professional fields. It can be assumed that digital education will be influenced by the nature of each program course and the specifics of the respective professional fields in which each program provides training. Second, it examines the digitalized services that a leading bulgarian university such as UNWE offers. A special focus of the research is the approach followed in the university to accelerate and adopt online and distance learning models, to introduce necessary measures and to make the best use of available resources, tools and teaching strategies. The research indicates that digital transformation is a complex process and covers many different academic aspects such as teaching and learning, research activities, community engagement, internalization or mobility, university management and university financial sustainability, as well as social dimensions of higher education. Based on the paper findings, proposals for digitalization of higher education in Bulgaria are presented. Some of the findings suggest that the emergency solutions adopted are to be considered as innovative, useful and successful, others refer to the quality of learning. More time is needed to have a full and detailed picture on how the quality of learning has been affected by sudden interruptions to core academic activities - teaching and learning. What is clear now is that there are some important lessons to be learned in order to maximaze benefits of digitalization in education, to repair the damage caused by the shift from face-to-face to online education, and to find the right balance between face-to-face and online learning, between physical mobility and “virtual exchange”.
