The effects of digitalization on the individual in higher education

Abstract

Society is like a living organism and contains constant differentiation and change. Social change is a transformation in the structures of social institutions and the functions they fulfill. Thus, different views of the social institutions that make up society and culture emerge in the historical process. To examine social change is also to see cultural transformation. Thus, it is to reveal the new state of the social structure. This institution-based definition of the process of change reveals the types of society that are defined based on the determining factors of social institutions today. Today, the dominant determinism of technology has led to the definition of digital society. Digital society is a result of technological development in the digital field. The increasing importance of artificial intelligence has been decisive in the definition of digital society, as it is seen not only in one field but in many fields. All social institutions, such as family, education, economy, politics, religion, and leisure time, are shaped according to this new determinant. One of the most important institutions among these is the institution of education. To understand the change in the institution of education, it is necessary to understand not only digital technology but also the determinism of institutions on each other. Social institutions affect each other; they can assume new functions or they can transfer their existing functions to another institution. What needs to be considered here is how situations related to trust, loneliness/individuality, and values will be shaped in the digital society. In this study, the digitalization process is considered as a phenomenon in higher education, and it is aimed to evaluate the social effects revealed by this phenomenon. Differences in the level of trust, loneliness, and technology use are discussed within the scope of the study, and the effects of digitalization on the individual in higher education life, which is an organization of the educational institution, are tried to be revealed.