Digital educational environment as a mean of pedagogical prevention of deformation of legal consciousness

Slanov Oleg Taimurazovich ORCID: 0009-0002-9876-078X Postgraduate student, Department of Production Organization and Industrial Economics, North Caucasus Mining and Metallurgical Institute (State Technological University) 44 Vatutina str., Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia, 362025 slanov_oleg@inbox.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Currently, the transformation of everyday life is underway due to the development of the digital environment and its penetration into all new spheres of human life. Digitalization has an impact on many aspects of human life: beliefs, values, building interpersonal relationships and, of course, legal awareness. The problem of changes in the peculiarities of the formation of legal awareness has been widely reflected in one form or another in the academic environment (Transformation of law in terms of "numbers": the main priorities. URL:https://vc.ru/legal/452838-transformaciya-prava-v-usloviyah-cifry-glavnye-prioritety). It is noted that a large amount of electronic information that generates a digital environment has an impact on the worldview, worldview, worldview and civic position of citizens ^[1].

The relevance of the topic of this study is due to the fact that digitalization in the modern world penetrates into all spheres of society and the state and has an increasing impact on them.

The challenges of modern civilization, consisting in the need to introduce digital technologies into the educational process, poses new tasks for the state to solve the problems arising in this regard, and also provides a number of new ways to form the legal consciousness of the student. At the same time, the uncontrolled process of developing the use of digital technologies in the educational sphere can have a negative impact and result in the form of deformation (distortion) of the legal consciousness of citizens and, as a result, behavioral deviation. In case of untimely application of pedagogical preventive measures, there is a need for further correction ("treatment") of the psychological and spiritual nature of a person, which is undoubtedly a more complex process that entails a number of negative socio-economic and state-legal consequences and risks. I would especially like to emphasize the preventive nature of the deformation of legal consciousness, which consists in preventing, preventing, taking timely, preventive measures, and not in pedagogical correction of the already distorted legal consciousness of citizens.

All this together makes it especially relevant and necessary to study the impact of the development of digitalization on the formation of legal awareness in society and on the way to prevent its deformation in the process of teaching and educating citizens, forming their "healthy" civic position.

In addition, the objective is to offer a pedagogical understanding of such conceptual categories as: "legal awareness", "deformation of legal awareness", "pedagogical prevention of deformation of legal awareness" and to study the influence of the digital environment in the educational sphere on the formation and change of legal awareness, the possibility of its use for the purpose of pedagogical prevention of deformations of legal consciousness among students in educational organizations.

For this article, the methods of analysis and synthesis of such concepts and social phenomena under consideration as: legal awareness, deformation and prevention of deformation of legal consciousness and the digital environment in the educational process were used as the main ones.

This made it possible to identify the basic features characteristic of the formation of legal awareness and the prevention of its deformation when interacting with the digital world. In the process of working on the article, research was conducted based on theoretical analysis and generalization of relevant materials, as well as data on digital and legal literacy of citizens of the Russian Federation were analyzed. Taking into account the analysis, recommendations were made on the formation of legal awareness and the prevention of its deformation among students in the context of digitalization of society within the educational system.

The theoretical basis of the study.

The issues of formation of legal awareness of students have been the subject of research by such scientific authors as:Zhidyaeva E.S., Samygmn P.S., Samygin S.S. ^{[2, 3]}, Zagutin D.S., Samygin P.S., Samygin S.I. ^{[3, 2]}, Volkov A.A., Ryasnanskaya N.A. ^[4], Mantuzova D.V., Torokhova S.I., Artamonova V.V. ^[5], F. N. Gospodarev ^[6].

The issues of digitalization in the field of the educational process have been the subject of research by such Russian scientists as: Zotova A.S. ^[7], Grinevich L.A. ^[8], Atayan A.M., Guryeva T.N., Sharabaeva L.Yu. ^[9], Gambeeva Yu.N., Sorokina E.I. ^[10], Kazakova E.I. ^[11] Gruzdev M.V., Tarkhanova I.Yu. ^[12], Aidarova G.P. ^[13].

The issues of the influence of the digital environment on legal consciousness were also the subject of study by Grayvoronskaya Ya.V., Karimov Yu.I. ^[14], Brovkina A., Burukin V., Makarova V., Trifonova T. ^[15], Baranov P.P., Mamychev A.Yu., Dremlyuga R.I., Miroshnichenko O.I. ^[16].

The practical significance of the study

In the course of the study, a result was achieved in the form of justification of the need to use the following additional tools to prevent the deformation of legal education within the framework of digital education:

- purposeful formation of knowledge and concepts of a legal nature both in the form of separate classes and as part of preparatory work (for example, when conducting briefings on working with DSP platforms);

- development of legal beliefs and ethical and legal feelings by working through situations (for example, in the process of discussing mistakes made when parsing assignments);

- formation of the socio-legal culture of students through educational activities through digital technologies.

- to develop students' ideas and skills of critical analysis of information, working with electronic resources and online security, as well as to promote the development of civic responsibility, helping students to realize their civil rights and responsibilities, forming a responsible attitude towards society and the world as a whole.

- to develop students' legal literacy skills, information search and analysis skills through the phased introduction of digital educational resources into the learning process.

In our opinion, such an integrated approach will improve the result in preventing the deformation of legal awareness of students in the digital environment, which in practical implementation will increase the legal consciousness of students, legal literacy, responsibility, help to form a civil position, form a legal culture and ideology, personal beliefs and values, which will lay a stronger foundation for the development of a "healthy" civil societies in a State governed by the rule of law.

 Discussions and research results

Theoretical analysis of the study

Legal awareness is a set of ideas and views that describe the attitude of people in society to certain phenomena and processes that existed earlier and are currently active, including ideas about their desired development ^[19].

Of course, the formation and prevention of deformation of the legal consciousness of a person is a process that is influenced by a significant number of various factors. Family and environment stand out as the most significant. It is the family that acts as the main social institution, thanks to which a person first acquires knowledge about social standards and values. Examples of family behavior have a significant impact on the initial development of legal awareness.

The formation of legal consciousness and the prevention of its deformation is a process that requires active upbringing, training and regular participation of an individual in public activities, and is currently closely linked to the digital environment. Moreover, the digital environment in this case has a dual nature, acting at the same time as a factor of change (society is faced with new types of interaction and, accordingly, new challenges), and a tool through which a new sense of justice is being formed in society.

The digital environment includes aspects of our environment such as digital technology and communication. It is an integrated communication environment in which digital devices process information and share content. The digital environment is based on globally implemented integrated digital systems ^[17]. V.N. Sinyukov's comment is noteworthy that digital technologies have a significant regulatory resource, which is confidently becoming a link between nature and the culture of law. The researcher noted the peculiarity of the nature of law, believing that it reveals itself more vividly in the digital space than in the case of traditional expression ^[18].

The digital environment may include the following elements:

· Digital devices;

·        Internet and communication networks;

· Digital information;

·        Social networks and communication platforms;

· Electronic services and online platforms.

The environment created as part of the digitalization process has a noticeable impact on society, culture, economy, education, and even interpersonal relationships.

At the same time, the fragmentation of society and the tendency to strengthen this process become an important aspect. The splitting of a single collective legal consciousness into several related but different parts is called the process of fragmentation of legal consciousness. Throughout the pre-industrial era, the idea of estates functioned as a way to differentiate the understanding of the law. In industrial civilization, class division came to the fore. Social differentiation in the digital (post-industrial) world has become multi-vector. Today's society is divided into a number of categories and statuses, including virtual ones. In this case, segmentation and fragmentation acquire the characteristics of one of the primary processes when it comes to legal awareness ^[19]. The observed gap in the legal space is typical for a society in transition and is associated with a shift in fundamental legal ideals ^[20]. Instead of using digital technologies as an end in itself, the theory and practice of legal regulation should be based on the legal control of public relations using such technologies ^[19].

The purpose of law is to create legal boundaries that will not allow the concept of individual, inalienable rights and freedoms to gradually turn into a myth.

The concept of legal knowledge is a concept of a role in society and a role model. Civil society is actively demonstrating legal awareness. It is free in thoughts, ideas and representations ^[19].

According to modern research, the Russian legal consciousness is traditionally considered contradictory, immature and still on the path of development ^[19]. The legal reality is considered by society as alien, set from the outside, and this is due to the discrepancy between legal expectations and the result.

The state is characterized by an interest in the topic of the development of legal awareness among the younger generation. To do this, digital technologies are already being actively used in the current conditions in order to create a more engaged and active society in the future. The subjective relations of the future cannot be compatible with legal nihilism or infantilism among citizens ^[19].

It is worth noting that the creation and implementation of a digital educational environment (DSP) in educational organizations will allow to develop training and ensure the prevention of deformation of legal consciousness in more comfortable conditions and increase interest in it by attracting new more visual materials. In addition, the regular use of such tools will increase the digital literacy of both students and the teaching staff of an educational institution, which is mandatory in the modern world. The introduction of digital technologies will make the learning and assessment process more transparent for all parties, which, for example, is important for establishing links within the framework of student-parent-school communication and understanding the rights and obligations of each participant in the interaction.

 Empirical analysis of the study and recommendations

It is important to trace the current state of development of the legal consciousness of Russians and the readiness of society for the active dissemination of the digital environment. The data provided by the NAFI analytical center, which regularly conducts various studies, including those dealing with issues of digital and legal literacy of Russians, can help us in this. NAFI is one of the systematically cited analytical centers in Russia and is mentioned more than two hundred times in the RSCI (About the company/ NAFI.URL:https://nafi.ru/about).

The 2018 and 2020 studies on the issues of digital and legal literacy of Russians allow us to compare the results and note changes, identify trends.

Digital literacy in NAFI research is understood as a basic set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that allows a person to effectively solve problems in a digital environment (Every fourth Russian has a high level of digital literacy / NAFI. URL:http://nafi.ru:8080/analytics/tsifrovaya-gramotnost).

The components of digital literacy include:

· Information literacy (information retrieval and analysis skills, including on the Internet);

·        Computer literacy (skills of working with PCs and similar devices, knowledge about their technical device);

·        Media literacy (including news search and fact-checking skills);

·        Communication literacy (knowledge about the specifics of network etiquette and communication in the digital space);

· Technological innovations (including skills in working with gadgets and applications).

The digital literacy index was calculated as the average value for all these components and amounted to 52 percentage points out of 100 possible. A study conducted in 2018 revealed that 26% of Russians showed a significant level of basic competencies in the digital environment (the proportion of respondents with an indicator of 90 percentage points or higher). Russians demonstrate the most developed competencies in the field of media literacy (the subindex is 65 percentage points). The lowest indicator is in the field of computer literacy (the subindex is 46 percentage points).

In Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in cities with millions of people, this figure is 59 percentage points, while in rural areas it is almost 10 percentage points lower - 49 percentage points. There is a direct correlation between the level of education and digital literacy: people with higher education show higher results. In addition, the level of digital literacy depends on age – the younger people are, the higher their level of digital literacy. No significant gender differences were found. In general, Russians tend to have a stable set of basic skills in relation to digital competencies with a lack of knowledge and ethical attitudes (the subindex for skills is 55 pp., for attitudes – 53 pp., for knowledge – 47 pp.).

A similar study conducted in 2020 gave a score of 58 on a scale from 0 to 100. According to the results, 27% of Russians showed a high level of digital literacy. The researchers noted that it was precisely because of the lack of knowledge and skills in the field of digital technologies that many people and organizations were not ready to work remotely in self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020. As before, there is a division among localities in terms of digital literacy: Russian capitals showed higher results than the national average (62 versus 58 percentage points), while villages and urban–type settlements were below average (55 percentage points). There was no significant gap in gender indicators (Digital literacy of Russians: a 2020 study / NAFI. URL:http://nafi.ru:8080/analytics/tsifrovaya-gramotnost-rossiyan-issledovanie-2020).

As an interim result, it can be noted that in the period 2018-2020, there were no noticeable changes in the field of digital literacy. However, subsequent studies have shown a steady increase in this indicator (by the end of 2022, the digital literacy index of Russians amounted to 71 points out of 100, which can be explained by the gradual development of the digital environment (primarily related to work and study) and the natural change of generations: the 2020 study showed that, for example, the level of digital literacy most depends on it depends on the age of the person, and the lowest values of the indicator are Russians over 55 years old [ibid.].

Table 1. NAFI Digital Literacy Index, in percentage points (source: the share of people with advanced digital literacy has increased in Russia / NAFI. URL:https://nafi.ru/analytics/v-rossii-vyrosla-dolya-lyudey-s-prodvinutym-urovnem-tsifrovoy-gramotnosti).

Against the background of the development of the digital environment in Russia, it is interesting to compare the research conducted by NAFI on the topic of legal literacy of Russians. The research was conducted in 2018 and 2020, so it is possible to observe changes in legal literacy against the background of changes in the digitalization of Russians' lives.

In the course of the 2018 study, the following goals were set:

·        Definition of the concept of legal literacy, description of its components and their relationship to each other;

·        Assessment of the level of legal literacy of Russians in basic issues;

·        Preparation of recommendations by experts for the purpose of positive changes in problematic areas.

In September 2018, personal formalized interviews were conducted with 1,600 respondents from 46 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted among citizens over the age of 18 (Legal literacy of Russians: on the way to civil society / NAFI. URL:https://nafi.ru/projects/sotsialnoe-razvitie/pravovaya-gramotnost-rossiyan-na-puti-k-grazhdanskomu-obshchestvu). A study was conducted on the legal literacy index, which is a summary indicator of the level of legal literacy of citizens. It takes into account knowledge, skills and attitudes in the field of protection of rights in all their diversity.

This index consists of sub-indexes:

·        Legal knowledge (43 p.p. in the 2018 study) is defined as knowledge of one's rights and the ability to determine when these rights are violated;

·        Legal skills (68 p.p.) are actions taken to protect their rights;

·        Legal guidelines (50 p.p.) are defined as readiness to act, guided by legal knowledge.

According to the results of the 2018 study, the legal literacy index was 54 percentage points out of 100 possible.

A similar study was conducted in 2020. 1,600 people from 50 different regions of Russia took part in the survey, which is considered sufficient for a sample representing the Russian population over the age of 18 in terms of gender, age, education and place of residence.  The error reported by the researchers was ± 3.4% (Legal literacy of Russians. Towards Civil Society 2020 / NAFI. URL:http://nafi.ru:8080/projects/sotsialnoe-razvitie/pravovaya-gramotnost-rossiyan-na-puti-k-grazhdanskomu-obshchestvu-2020).

According to a study conducted in 2020, the level of legal literacy of Russians is at an average level. According to data for 2020, Russians scored 47 out of 100 possible points in the legal literacy index [ibid.], which is lower than the 54 percentage points reported in 2018.

The subindex "Legal knowledge" was marked at the level of 46 pp, "Legal skills" – 39 pp, and "Legal attitudes" – 54 pp.

Despite the fact that the citizens who participated in the study answered the questions accurately (from the Constitution of the Russian Federation), the researchers concluded that the survey participant underestimated their true level of knowledge, assuming that they were not aware of legal issues. This indicates a lack of confidence in one's own knowledge, which may jeopardize a citizen's ability to distinguish between when his rights are actually violated and when they are not [ibid.]. It is noteworthy that in 2020, the proportion of people who defend their rights when they are violated is higher than two years earlier.

However, in general, there are only small changes in the legal literacy index. Russians still doubt their own knowledge of law and prefer to rely on themselves if they need to defend their rights. If legal literacy is growing, then, as a rule, spontaneously, in connection with the desire to adapt to changes in various fields (housing, medicine, finance, etc.) [ibid.].

Thus, the problem of the formation of legal awareness and the prevention of its deformation becomes obvious, the importance of solving this problem for the whole society, especially taking into account the expanding boundaries of the digital environment. And, as already mentioned, education can play a significant role in resolving this issue.

In this case, teachers have a great responsibility. One of the possible ways to involve students in the digital environment to develop interaction skills in it is to include elements of digital pedagogy in the educational process.

Digital pedagogy, as a new scientific direction, means the use of the entire range of digital environments for educational events in order to improve the quality of learning. A new kind of pedagogy, a new pedagogical culture, new responsibilities for teachers and students – all this has become possible thanks to the digitalization of education. In this case, educators, as people who broadcast educational material, give way to teaching methodologists and creators of online educational materials ^[21].

For the formation of legal consciousness in order to prevent its deformation of students within the framework of digitalization, the following means can be specified:

- purposeful formation of knowledge and concepts of a legal nature both in the form of separate classes and as part of preparatory work (for example, when conducting briefings on working with DSP platforms);

- development of legal beliefs and ethical and legal feelings by working through situations (for example, in the process of discussing mistakes made when parsing assignments);

- formation of the socio-legal culture of students through educational activities through digital technologies.

In general, in order to develop, form and prevent the deformation of legal awareness of students in modern conditions, teachers, in addition to direct work on teaching the basics of law within their competencies, need to develop ideas and teach the skills of critical analysis of information, working with electronic resources and online security, as well as promote the development of civic responsibility, helping students to realize their civil rights and responsibilities, forming a responsible attitude towards society and the world as a whole. Many of the listed skills are meta-subject, the training of which will take place in parallel with specialized classes organized in a digital environment. So, it is important to pronounce the features of safe behavior on the Internet and network hygiene, and subsequently monitor the assimilation of these recommendations by students.

For these purposes, among the educational technologies that can be used in the format of an electronic educational environment, it is necessary to mention digital educational resources (SDGs). These include media resources (digital models, photo and video materials, etc.), as well as the creation and/or use of digital platforms for the placement and use of the above-mentioned materials for educational purposes. In the case of the introduction of such technologies into the educational process, it is possible not only to increase the pace of the lesson, but also to develop students' digital literacy skills, information search and analysis skills.

The application of specific types of SDGs in the framework of training programs depends on the task at hand. The use of text materials in digital format is appropriate as one of the options for fixing, illustrations and video materials – at the stage of acquaintance with new material, and the use of electronic tasks is possible both within the framework of fixing or control, and in the format of organizing independent work of students.

You can also pay attention to interactive online exercises. This approach opens up opportunities for the implementation of methodological ideas, thanks to which, both in a playful and in a more formal form, it is possible to establish interaction between the teacher and the team of students, as well as building connections between the students themselves, understanding the rights and obligations of each participant. Depending on the organization, this is possible both in person with the use of information technology and in an online format.

Conclusion and conclusions

From our point of view, in pedagogical science, legal awareness can be understood as an element of the psychological and spiritual nature of a person, conditioned by his socialization and self-identification, formed in the process of purposeful upbringing and training of a personality and regulating the relationship of a personality with society and the state through formed ideas about permissible and unacceptable behavior, socially approved and condemned, as well as knowledge of the regulatory system.punitive measures and freedoms of citizens of a particular State.

By the deformation of legal consciousness, we mean a subjectively distorted perception and understanding of the existing legal system, legal phenomena, processes, events and giving objective legal reality the desired forms and meanings under the influence of the peculiarities of the development and formation of psychology, views, principles, beliefs, ideology, values, culture and knowledge about the meaning, role and function of law.

By pedagogical prevention of the deformation of legal consciousness, we mean the use in the process of education and upbringing of a set of tools and methods aimed at reducing or eliminating the likelihood of the development of prerequisites and manifestations of metamorphoses of legal consciousness of a negative nature, entailing deviant or destructive behavior.

Summing up, it is worth noting that a characteristic feature of modern society is the penetration of technology into everyday life to a level that was not previously known to mankind. For this reason, society is increasingly influenced by the digital world on how legal principles are perceived and applied. This article examined the connection between the advent of the digital age and people's legal awareness.

The era of digitalization brings a number of problems into people's lives: the massive spread of fakes, violation of privacy, crimes in the digital environment. All this together has an impact on people in the legal field. For this reason, in order to better understand the new features of the world, along with the expansion of digitalization, it is necessary to develop legal awareness for each member of society.

At the same time, studies conducted in Russia in recent years have shown that, despite the growth of digital literacy among the country's citizens (which is apparently due to the widespread spread of the digital environment at work and in school), the level of legal awareness remains at an average level, and Russians diminish their knowledge in the legal field, considering They do not feel competent enough to defend their rights. It was noted that the growth of legal awareness occurs spontaneously and not systematically, solely as a response to external changes in life, and therefore a comprehensive development of legal awareness of the individual and society as a whole is necessary.

One of the tools that could help in this could be the education system. It is within the framework of this system that students who are members of society in one way or another need to be introduced directly to the basics of law in the new reality, as well as to give ideas and teach the skills of critical analysis of information, working with electronic resources and online security. Among other things, it is necessary to promote the development of civic responsibility, pointing out to students the ways to realize their civil rights and responsibilities. In general, this will allow us to form basic ideas about responsible attitude towards society and the world in the future.