‘Constants’ and ‘variables’ of digitalized education

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the problem of informatization of a globalized society. The purpose of the study is to summarize the ideas about the ‘constants’ and ‘variables’ of modern university education as a self–organizing system actively involved in the processes of digitalization. Materials and Methods. In order to achieve the research aim, a thematic review of Russian and international studies on the issues of informatization of a globalized society has been conducted. The study involved a comparison of alternative points of view reflected in the works by B. Readings, P. Cramer, etc. The analysis of existing theories of the information society has been carried out. Results. Reviewing the results of Russian and international studies has shown that the world picture today is structured predominantly by the modern media, while most globalizing trends are becoming less and less manageable. The history of philosophy frequently addresses the problem analysis of such paradigmatic shifts which arise implicitly and take shape in emergence. The article discloses the authors’ understanding of ‘constants’ and ‘variables’ in contemporary university education as a self-organizing system that is rapidly undergoing an intensive process of digitalization. A traditional European university typically demonstrates its ‘aura of age’. The questions are: ‘To what extent is the structure of consciousness influenced by the development of digital resources and by outsourcing the functions of academic word and of individual memory to external digital data media?’; ‘To what degree can production of university knowledge act as an intellectual practice and determine the independence of thinking?’ The problem of establishing the topic of academic engagement and interaction in online formats is considered to be debatable. The authors show that today individuals as subjects of cognitive activities find themselves in a situation where they face value choices, which, in their turn, determine the prospects and the potential of cultural development. Mnemonic operations are to longer perceived as the art of memory. This problem attains special significance during the process of building humanitarian education within the system of electronic communication. One cannot claim categorically that individuals cease to think structurally when they relay the function of storing information to digitized sign systems as a universal resource. Conclusions. The conducted research allowed the authors to conclude that the development of digital technologies as a means of fulfilling social interests means positioning the idea of ‘digital equality’ as the main social asset. This has stimulated establishing cardinally new directions in humanities research. At the same time, the need in relevant and timely connections between the concepts of infogenesis and semiosis is seen today as one of the most current issues in world paradigm problems.