THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON THE FORMATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY OF FUTURE PROFESSIONALS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The study analyses the impact of digital technologies on academic integrity in higher education institutions. The definitions of ‘academic integrity’ are defined. The authors emphasise the ambiguous impact of digital technologies: on the one hand, they facilitate dishonest behaviour (plagiarism, data falsification, misquoting), on the other hand, they provide tools for its detection (plagiarism checking programmes) and contribute to the formation of ethical norms. The authors analyse the positive and negative aspects of this impact. The negative aspects include increased opportunities for copying, the use of artificial intelligence to generate content, and a lack of responsibility for intellectual property. Positive aspects include the creation of tools for detecting plagiarism, opportunities to promote academic integrity through open educational resources. The importance of an integrated approach to ensuring academic integrity in the context of digital transformation, including the active use of technology, ethical education, development of digital literacy, creation of a favourable educational environment, updating the regulatory framework in the field of academic integrity in view of the development of digital technologies, is emphasised.The study presents the results of an online survey among students of three Ukrainian higher education institutions, which revealed a deep integration of digital technologies into the educational process. Despite a general awareness of the importance of citation, a significant number of students said they had encountered cases of incorrect use of online materials. Most respondents doubt the effectiveness of existing methods of detecting academic dishonesty in the digital environment. Future professionals consider the most effective measures to be the promotion of originality, open access to quality materials, explanation of the rules, and the use of digital tools for source verification.