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Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University

Received: 26 April 2023     Accepted: 11 May 2023     Published: 29 May 2023
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Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shifted the daily operations of society from in-person to a digital environment. While connectivity has innumerable benefits, research is revealing the negative effects of hyperconnectivity on mental health. Digital burnout appears to be the cost for this advancement. Students and faculty members are mostly impacted with digital burnout. The purposes of this project were to 1) to compare digital device usage before and during the pandemic between faculty and students, 2) examine digital competencies, digital burnout, and digital resilience between faculty and students from one Midwest university. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was conducted. A convenience sample of faculty and students from the all programs at our university were surveyed. A Digital Experience Scale was adapted by the researchers to evaluate digital usage, level of confidence, and level of digital resilience in adapting to digital technology. The 24-item Digital Burnout Scale (DBS) was also used to assess digital burnout. The DBS measures three subscales – digital aging, digital deprivation, and emotional exhaustion. The total score ranges from 24 to 120, with higher scores indicating higher levels of digital burnout. The survey was administered via RedCap. IRB was submitted and was granted exempt status. Data from 194 respondents were included in analysis. Cohort was comprised mostly of students (80%), 76% females, 83% whites and 72% were undergraduate students. The overall mean age was 33.8 (SD=14.7). There was a significant difference in age between faculty and students. Cohort reported above average and very high ability in use of technology. The overall mean DBS score of all participants was 64.7 (SD=19.2). The mean “digital aging”, “digital deprivation”, and “emotional exhaustion” subscale scores of 33.8 (SD=10.7), 16.1 (SD=5.7), and 15.0 (SD=5.6), respectively. There were significant differences in the total scores and three subscales between faculty and students. Both faculty and students were able to adapt the use of technology during the pandemic. The study showed that faculty and students at a Midwestern University have above-average digital burnout levels; however, they were able to adapt to the use of technology.

Published in Education Journal (Volume 12, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12
Page(s) 92-98
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Digital Burnout, Digital Aging, Emotional Exhaustion

References
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[4] Sharma, M. K., Anand, N., Ahuja, S., Thakur, P. C., Mondal, I., Singh, P., Kohli, T., & Venkateshan, S. (2020). Digital burnout: COVID-19 lockdown mediates excessive technology use stress. World Social Psychiatry, 2, 171-172. https://www.worldsocpsychiatry.org/text.asp?2020/2/2/171/292110
[5] Goodman, K. (2021, Apr. 14). The rise of digital burnout. https://drkristygoodwin.com/the-rise-of-digital-burnout%E2%80%8B/
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[7] Scott, D. A., Valley, B. & Simecka, B. A. Mental Health Concerns in the Digital Age. International Journal Mental Health Addiction 15, 604–613 (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s11469-016-9684-0.
[8] Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (2020, June, 18). Depression: What is burnout? National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279286/
[9] Smith, M., Segal, J. & Robinson, L. (2022, Oct. 7). Burnout prevention and treatment. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm
[10] Erten, P. & Özdemir, O. (2020). The Digital Burnout Scale Development Study, Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 21 (2), 668-683. DOI: 10.17679/inuefd.597890.
[11] Durmuş, S. C., Gülnar, E., & Özveren, H. (2021). Determining digital burnout in nursing students: A descriptive research study. Nurse Education Today, 111. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105300.
[12] Koivuneva, K., & Ruokamo, H. (2022). Assessing university students’ study-related burnout and academic well-being in digital learning environments: A systematic literature review. Seminar.net 14 (1). DOI: 10.7577/seminar.4705.
[13] Kumpikaitė-Valiūnienė, V., Aslan, I., Duobienė, J., Glińska, E., & Anandkumar, V., (2021). Influence of Digital Competence on Perceived Stress, Burnout and Well-Being Among Students Studying Online During the Covid-19 Lockdown: A 4-Country Perspective. Psychology Research and Behavior Management 14, 1483-1498. https://www.dovepress.com/influence-of-digital-competence-on-perceived-stress-burnout-and-well-b-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-PRBM
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[15] Goldag, B. (2022). An investigation on the relationship between university students’ digital burnout levels and perceived stress level. Journal of Teaching and Learning in Digital Age, 7 (1), 90-98. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/joltida
[16] Eri, R., Gudimetla, P., Star, S., Rowlands, J., Girgla, A., To, L., Ki, F., Sochea, N., & Bindal, U. (2021) Digital resilience in higher education in response to COVID-19 pandemic: Student perceptions from Asia and Australia Journal of University Teaching amd Learning Practice, 18 (5), 108-134. DOI: 10.53761/1.18.5.7.
[17] Maslach, C. (1998). A multidimensional theory of burnout. In C. L. Cooper (Ed.). Theories of organizational stress (pp. 68-85). Manchester, UK: Oxford University Press.
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[20] Czaja, S. J., Charness, N., Fisk, A. D., Hertzog, C., Nair, S. N., Rogers, W. A., & Sharit, J. (2006) Factors predicting the use of technology: findings from the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE). Psychology of Aging. 21 (2): 333-52. DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.21.2.333.
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  • APA Style

    Deanna Gower, Melissa Kachaturoff, Meriam Caboral-Stevens. (2023). Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University. Education Journal, 12(3), 92-98. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12

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    ACS Style

    Deanna Gower; Melissa Kachaturoff; Meriam Caboral-Stevens. Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University. Educ. J. 2023, 12(3), 92-98. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12

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    AMA Style

    Deanna Gower, Melissa Kachaturoff, Meriam Caboral-Stevens. Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University. Educ J. 2023;12(3):92-98. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12,
      author = {Deanna Gower and Melissa Kachaturoff and Meriam Caboral-Stevens},
      title = {Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University},
      journal = {Education Journal},
      volume = {12},
      number = {3},
      pages = {92-98},
      doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20231203.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20231203.12},
      abstract = {The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shifted the daily operations of society from in-person to a digital environment. While connectivity has innumerable benefits, research is revealing the negative effects of hyperconnectivity on mental health. Digital burnout appears to be the cost for this advancement. Students and faculty members are mostly impacted with digital burnout. The purposes of this project were to 1) to compare digital device usage before and during the pandemic between faculty and students, 2) examine digital competencies, digital burnout, and digital resilience between faculty and students from one Midwest university. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was conducted. A convenience sample of faculty and students from the all programs at our university were surveyed. A Digital Experience Scale was adapted by the researchers to evaluate digital usage, level of confidence, and level of digital resilience in adapting to digital technology. The 24-item Digital Burnout Scale (DBS) was also used to assess digital burnout. The DBS measures three subscales – digital aging, digital deprivation, and emotional exhaustion. The total score ranges from 24 to 120, with higher scores indicating higher levels of digital burnout. The survey was administered via RedCap. IRB was submitted and was granted exempt status. Data from 194 respondents were included in analysis. Cohort was comprised mostly of students (80%), 76% females, 83% whites and 72% were undergraduate students. The overall mean age was 33.8 (SD=14.7). There was a significant difference in age between faculty and students. Cohort reported above average and very high ability in use of technology. The overall mean DBS score of all participants was 64.7 (SD=19.2). The mean “digital aging”, “digital deprivation”, and “emotional exhaustion” subscale scores of 33.8 (SD=10.7), 16.1 (SD=5.7), and 15.0 (SD=5.6), respectively. There were significant differences in the total scores and three subscales between faculty and students. Both faculty and students were able to adapt the use of technology during the pandemic. The study showed that faculty and students at a Midwestern University have above-average digital burnout levels; however, they were able to adapt to the use of technology.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • School of Nursing, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, USA

  • School of Nursing, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, USA

  • School of Nursing, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, USA

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