Functioning of the digital educational environment in a higher education institution: subjective component

Abstract

The feasibility of implementing a digital educational environment in higher education institutions is determined by the strategic direction of education modernization, which necessitated a comprehensive analysis of the essence of the digital educational environment, the study of its structure, and functional characteristics. The authors offer to identify the human factor, primarily the social and psychological aspects of interaction between participants in the educational process, as the main factor in the successful implementation of a digital educational environment at universities. The functional characteristics of the digital educational environment are described through the interaction of participants in the educational process. The digital educational environment is viewed as a system that integrates the subjective and objective resources of the educational process into a single whole, ensuring their interaction based on digital technologies. The subjects are students, scientific and pedagogical workers, stakeholders, employers, administrative and managerial staff of a higher education institution (administration, representatives of the dean’s office, system administrators). Each of them is characterized by needs (cognitive, communication, information ones, etc.), functional purpose, level of involvement in education and other characteristics that define them as a subject resource of the digital educational environment. The authors have substantiated that it is the subjects of the digital educational environment that form a digital community interpreted as an association of individuals who have common goals, values and interests in the field of education through access to digital technologies and modern content, the involvement of specialists from different fields, as well as their ability to cooperate regardless of spatial and temporal limitations. It shows how system-forming relationships are formed between participants in a digital educational environment, which, differing in nature (functional, informational, causal), ensure the integrity, effective functioning, and development of this environment. The survey results showed that educators are selectively ready to implement digital tools within the digital educational environment. This determines the need for training courses for various categories of participants in the educational process, aimed at implementing the ideas of digitalization of education.