https://www.mdu.se/

Date: 27/05/2021

Level: Bachelor thesis in business administration, 15 cr

Institution: Mälardalen University. School of Business, society, and engineering 

Authors: Christa Kisso      Wajd Hamoui

                  (96/02/16)             (92/01/20)

Title: The role of digitalization in a higher education institution

Tutor: Leanne Johnstone

Keywords: Digitalization, Higher-education management, Lack of motivation, self-discipline, Technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge.

Research question: How does digitalization affect higher education from the perspectives of students and teachers in Mälardalens university? And how do they deal with such effects?

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of digitalization on both students and teachers, attempting to contribute an understanding of the digital learning process and hopefully, develop theoretical understandings and offer concrete suggestions to improve it, from these two specific perspectives.

Method: Interpretivist philosophy and inductive research approach were adopted to conduct explorative, qualitative research, where interviews were conducted with a sample of teachers and students of MDH university who were affected by the digitalization of education.

Conclusion:  Digitalization is a phenomenon that is going to keep evolving. Its effects on higher education from the perspective of students and teachers are a mix of positive and negative effects. By relating to MDH, positive effects on teachers were mainly focused on reducing time and efforts consumed while teaching online, and their technological and content knowledge has increased. Also, the open-book examination has been affected positively by digitalization. While the negative effects were concerning the interaction with students, distraction and isolation, and the challenge concerning the closed-book examination. As for the students. It was found that the most impacted parts of their studies were more on the personal levels, in terms of motivation levels, lack of self-discipline, and their pedagogical preferences. In return, positive effects were also on the personal level in terms of freedom, availability of time, preferences, and getting higher grades. Finally, and based on the data collected from MDHs teachers and students, a table of suggestions is presented to enhance the digital learning process within the university.