The Fi-gital Future Summit 2021, organized in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education and Üsküdar Üniversitesi, continues at full speed. Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, Dean of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and a guest at the summit, drew attention to the conveniences brought into our lives by the fi-gital concept, which emerged with the pandemic.
Stating that the combination of physical and digital has emerged as something human nature can accept more easily, Prof. Dr. Arıboğan said that the pandemic was overcome more easily thanks to technology. Arıboğan noted that during the pandemic, Üsküdar Üniversitesi very quickly and successfully discovered fi-gitalization early, and stated that within two weeks, all courses were delivered via Zoom.
Digitalization Accelerated by 6 Years with the Pandemic
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that digitalization has been a concept in our lives for decades, saying, “With the 2000s, it came to the forefront in all sectors. Especially with the advent of social media, the revolutionary transformation in communication, the acceleration of the internet, and the extraordinary level of information sharing, the society we live in began to be called a digital society. In other words, the digitalization phase began to constitute a very important part of our lives. Since 2015, we have heard the concept of 'figitalization'. We are talking about a hybrid model that will be carried out in both physical and digital contexts. The rapid entry of digital into our lives happened with the pandemic. According to reports from the World Economic Forum, what was happening actually accelerated significantly. In other words, it came forward by about 6 years; we would have experienced all of these things within 5-6 years anyway, but because the pandemic created certain obligations, we all adapted to these obligations and became even more digitalized.”
We Understood How Valuable It Is to Touch Each Other
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan noted that in the early days of the pandemic, remote work and distance education seemed attractive to employees and students, stating, “However, within a few months, it turned into a psychological disaster. Those working from home want to go to work, and those receiving education from home want to go to school. As faculty members, we want to connect with our students. In other words, we quickly saw how important real-world, real locations and spaces are in our lives, and how valuable it is to touch each other and to be able to say things to each other without an intermediary.”
Fi-gital is Something Human Nature Can Accept More Easily
Prof. Dr. Arıboğan noted that during the pandemic, Üsküdar Üniversitesi very quickly and successfully discovered fi-gitalization early, stating, “As Üsküdar Üniversitesi, we reacted incredibly in a way I didn't even expect. The ability of all our instructors to deliver 100% of all courses live via Zoom and ALMS platforms within two weeks is something no university was prepared for. Our infrastructure was rapidly transformed. We saw even very traditional instructors react quickly. Everyone learned to use the digital environment. But even our most digitally-savvy individuals understood once again the importance of physical meetings with our students. So, fi-gital is actually the concept of the new era. It is the concept after digital. We transitioned from physical to digital. The Digital Age was experienced. Currently, the Figital Age is being experienced. The combination of physical and digital emerged as something human nature can accept more easily.”
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan said, “We will do figital, but if we forget the ‘fi’, it will become a disease. In other words, we need to develop communication strategies without ever forgetting our physical needs. All universities that tell their students to stay at home and provide them with digital education will lose, because students want to go out. Therefore, a promotional campaign cannot be done by saying ‘Stay at home’, nor can a university ideal be taught.”
Joy Triggers the Productive Drive
Arıboğan noted that they established a Political Psychology Center at Üsküdar Üniversitesi, which is the only such center in Turkey and also conducts studies with Oxford University, stating, “Here we examine the following: societies that grieve, societies that constantly struggle with negativity, and societies that lose their joy exhibit certain behavioral characteristics after a certain period. Societies under trauma also have certain behavioral characteristics. These need to be monitored because when societies lose their joy, they also lose their productive energy. The European Union has an anthem, ‘Ode to Joy’, which means ‘Ode to Joy’. Joy triggers the productive drive. People need music, to laugh, to smile, to rejoice together. If you eliminate all of these in a society, there will be no production. No one can dream about the future; everyone becomes depressive, introverted, creating a stagnant society in a state of perpetual mourning. Therefore, vaccination during the pandemic will also be effective, and afterwards, the music should be turned up in places of celebration and holiday festivities.”
Being Able to Produce Happy People Will Be an Important Job
Arıboğan noted that entertainment is one of the sectors of the future, stating, “The entertainment sector encompasses dining, drinking, traveling, tourism, music, and art, all of these. After humanity delegates production to artificial intelligence and robots, there will be a long and abundant amount of time left. During this abundant time, channels that can psychologically relieve people need to be open. It is necessary to be able to produce happy people, and this is actually a job. Making other people happy is a very important job. Certain systems need to be established to entertain people, but society is not yet ready for this.”
He Who Stands Still Falls
Prof. Dr. Arıboğan said, “The pandemic will lead to a medical revolution,” adding, “Large funds have started to be provided. I think many unresolved diseases will be solved. Anti-aging systems will develop significantly. Stem cell therapies have started to develop. Therefore, certain sectors suitable for extended lifespans will develop. For example, in China, there are universities for people over 70. People are studying for their second and third university degrees. New education areas that can constantly adapt to the new era at all ages, and education areas for hobbies will be created. Each of these will become a business sector. Indeed, he who stands still falls. This is a bicycle, and the bicycle has started to go very fast. One needs to know how to pedal. Just like in the old days, 10 or 20 years ago, one cannot become a professor, doctor, engineer, or communicator.”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Signed an Agreement with the University of Texas
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan noted that thanks to technology, borders in education have also disappeared, stating, “Our Political Science and International Relations department signed an agreement with the University of Texas this year. We will teach them in their classroom. Students from there will come here, join the class, and we will start doing such joint programs. We organized a Political Psychology Conference with Oxford University; we did it together. Now we are preparing a new one again. Oxford students participate, Turkish students also participate together; they join from there, we join from here, so these things can happen, they become friends, they can develop projects together. In this sense, I can also say that the newly developing world will offer many opportunities, but everything will require new technology.”
Universities in the Heart of the City are Within Life
Prof. Dr. Arıboğan, offering advice to young people preparing for university exams regarding their choices, said, “When choosing a university, they should choose a place that suits their character, spirit, and work discipline. Some universities are campus universities, some are city universities. Now, for more introverted students who only want to concentrate on their studies and get distracted when they step outside a certain framework, campus universities are more advantageous. But for those who want to be in the midst of life, saying ‘I'm leaving here to go to that patisserie with my friend, attend an international conference, experience life, go home and come back,’ city universities are better. Life begins right outside the door of universities like ours, located in the heart of the city.”
Fashionable Professions May Become Obsolete Within 10 Years
Prof. Dr. Arıboğan, who advised university candidates to be interested in the future, also stated that they should definitely look at the academic staff of universities, and said the following:
“Today's fashionable professions can become completely obsolete or even disappear within ten years. In particular, there is a very common misconception about law. The most important thing artificial intelligence and blockchain will bring is facilitating the resolution of disputes, so the need for legal services will also disappear, or at least decrease… Beyond that, if they are interested in medicine, they should look at new fields; if they are interested in engineering, they should look at new engineering fields. They should definitely look at the academic staff of universities, meaning they shouldn't just go for brands. They should look at the richness of the staff. Every instructor creates another world.”
Receiving a Good Education in Philosophy, History, and Political Science is Very Important
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan noted that the roles of basic sciences will greatly increase in the future, stating, “Regardless of the profession, having a good education in philosophy, history, political science, or international relations, and being able to read the world, is becoming very important. All fields, including philosophy, sociology, and communication, must follow the future. The future has already arrived, but due to the pandemic, we mistake the changes in our lives for the future itself. In fact, humanity’s world of meaning is changing. Not only the space itself but also our way of perceiving space is changing, and our way of perceiving time is changing. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the world closely.”
For Motivation in Online Classes: Change Your Clothes and Open Your Camera
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan also offered advice to students on motivation for distance learning courses, stating, “Our Faculty Member from the Psychology Department, Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan, specially prepared a video for students. He explained how to get more efficiency from online lessons. Getting out of bed, dressing appropriately, and opening the camera is also a motivating factor. We cannot force students in this regard, but I personally tried to encourage them a lot. I used to thank students for opening their cameras. Because I see that I am explaining to someone in front of me. Explaining something to a machine is an abnormal situation. Therefore, if students want to increase the instructor’s performance as well, they can succeed in increasing the quality of the lesson by opening that camera, asking their instructors questions occasionally, and making their presence known.”
Technology Enabled Us to Get Through the Pandemic More Easily
Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan stated that the pandemic was overcome more easily due to the digital environment, saying, “If we had experienced the pandemic in a period without a digital environment, we would have struggled much more. The opportunity to talk to our mother via video call on WhatsApp was very important. We send flowers online, we do our shopping. In fact, technology enabled us to get through the pandemic more easily. In the medical field, it was declared the greatest victory in history. That is, for the first time in history, a vaccine for such a pandemic was found with incredible speed and put into action with incredible speed. Currently, 2.5 billion people have been vaccinated. This is the greatest medical achievement in human history. Its vaccine came out in the 8th-9th month of the pandemic. We turned it into a treatable disease. Technology also has an impact on this; data is collected from China, India, and America. They share data with each other about side effects. As soon as the COVID virus emerged, the Chinese immediately extracted its genome. They extracted its entire sequence and shared it with the world. That's why vaccines developed so easily.”
Ended with Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan's Conference
The Fi-gital Future Summit 2021, which attracted significant interest from candidates who will take the university entrance exam, ended on Friday, June 11, 2021, with the speech titled “Staying Human in the Digital Future” by Prof. Dr. Sinan Canan, a faculty member of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Psychology Department.