Students and insufficient socialization in virtual education; A qualitative study

Formal and face-to-face education in situations that face sudden changes can create consequences for the education system according to various conditions. One of the sudden changes in recent years was the spread of the Corona virus and as a result the virtualization of formal education. Formal education requires serious requirements to be able to efficiently realize the socialization of students. In this research, the issue of socialization of students in virtual education was considered. In this regard, the grounded theory method was used. The city of Yasouj, the capital of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad provinces, was chosen as the research field. In order to gain a rich understanding of the changes that have taken place, we conducted in-depth interviews with students. Sampling continued until the theoretical saturation stage was reached and finally an in-depth interview was conducted with 21 students. For data analysis, open, selective and central three-stage coding was used. From the analysis of interviews with students, 14 categories and 109 codes were obtained. "Insufficient socialization" was also chosen as the core category. The changing shape of the educational system, the evolved human relations and the problem of free time were the reasons for insufficient socialization. Two intervening conditions, called students' mental-psychological conditions and family interaction and education, and two contextual conditions of insufficient infrastructure and inequality were also extracted. In this situation, students engage in two acts of loitering and loitering. Problematization of the student's role, decline in the quality of education, spread of social harms and virtual opportunities as consequences of insufficient socialization were extracted from the interviews with students.