Digital Experience Among Faculty and Students in One Midwest University

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