Digital transformation of communication in academic environment: the experience of students at German universities
https://doi.org/10.21453/2311-3065-2025-13-3-116-129
Abstract
Modern universities operate under the conditions of global digital transformation, which radically reshapes academic practices and introduces new requirements for the organization of educational processes. One of the key dimensions of these changes is communication, which shapes students’ academic experience, influences their engagement in educational practices, and becomes an important factor of academic development. The relevance of this article lies in the ambivalent impact of digitalization processes on the effectiveness of communication in the contemporary educational environment. Using German universities as a case study, the article demonstrates that digitalization provides automated feedback and flexible interaction, but also entails risks of replacing traditional forms of dialogue with procedural signals and metrics, thereby reducing the degree of personal contact. Transformations of academic communication in German higher education under conditions of digitalization are analyzed based on data from a student survey (N=442) conducted by the author in July and August 2025. The results show that the digital learning environment, on the one hand, expands access to information and formalized feedback channels, but on the other, leads to several risks: reducing communication to operational quality indicators, fragmentary information delivery, emotional distance, and unequal access to participation channels. Students emphasize the lack of personal interaction, empathy, and support, as well as limited opportunities for involvement in productive academic practices. These findings suggest that digitalization should be viewed as a significant factor in the transformation of the socio-communicative space of the university.
About the Author
D. V. Galitskaia
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO – University)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Galitskaia Diana Vladimirovna – postgraduate student at the Department of Sociology
119571, Moscow, Vernadsky av., 76
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For citations:
Galitskaia D.V. Digital transformation of communication in academic environment: the experience of students at German universities. Communicology. 2025;13(3):116-129. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21453/2311-3065-2025-13-3-116-129
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