T7.2.3 OpenEU Digital Wellbeing Tool
We are delighted to welcome you to this space dedicated to exploring digital wellbeing in higher education across Europe.
As universities continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly digital academic environment, our goal is to develop insights and a new measurement tool to foster healthier, more balanced digital experiences.
On this website, we will share updates about our ongoing research, emerging findings, and opportunities to collaborate or participate. We believe that promoting digital wellbeing is not just about reducing screen time – it’s about creating meaningful, sustainable, and inclusive ways to integrate technology into education.
Thank you for visiting. We invite you to follow our progress and join the conversation about the future of digital wellbeing in higher education.
Research on Digital Wellbeing in Higher Education
Mission
The mission of the research is to develop a culturally sensitive, evidence-based digital well-being measure that helps university students maintain a healthy and balanced relationship with technology, fostering their overall mental health and academic success in diverse educational contexts.
In recent years the growing technology used across all age groups consequently leads to the rise in screen time among children, students, professionals, and old adults. This in turn is highly affecting daily routines, relationships and mental health of users. The effects of this influence may be both positive (e.g. peer support groups sharing the same experiences) and negative (e.g. leading a person from the overuse of technology to addiction and depression).
The increased popularity of online Higher education programs brings with it the necessity to navigate constant connectivity, screen time, and online engagement. This makes university students particularly vulnerable to digital stress due to academic demands in technology-driven learning.
Is it possible to have a harmonious relationship with technology? How to find the delicate balance between connectivity and disconnection? How do cultural lenses shape the technology use and digital engagement? These questions are connected with the concept of digital wellbeing and a culturally adaptive measure to assess it. And we invite you to join our journey in the exploration of the concept of digital wellbeing!
Understanding Digital Wellbeing
Abstract
The recent increase in the technology use among all populations and the age groups brings to life an emerging concept of digital wellbeing. Despite ongoing research, there is still no common definition of digital wellbeing, as well as a lack of representative studies. Additionally, the absence of valid measurements, particularly for certain institutional settings, is leaving a gap to fill.
With the help of the mixed-methods approach, the main research question will be answered: What are the key digital wellbeing needs of university students and staff from diverse cultural backgrounds? To answer it, we will study (1) how do university students, staff, and experts from diverse cultural backgrounds define and describe digital wellbeing? (2) how does culture influence the subjective digital wellbeing of university students and staff? and (3) how can a digital wellbeing measure for students and staff be designed to screen a healthy relationship with technology while maintaining balance in technology use?
The findings will bring valuable theoretical adjustments to the current theories around the concept of digital wellbeing. In particular, such components as practices, experiences, attitudes, and cultural influences will help to understand the concept of digital wellbeing within the institutional context of Higher Education across Europe as perceived by students and staff.
Besides the scientific contribution to the field, our research aims to bring a practical solution in the form of a new measurement scale to self-monitor digital wellbeing. This will be a standardized, culturally adaptive measure for the digital wellbeing assessment. Once developed and validated, the scale will be suggested for implementation in the mental health support strategy of the participating Open EU universities.