Digital adolescence and youth: living and learning in Social Media and Artificial Intelligence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32093/ambits.vi.63.504987Keywords:
Digital technologies, digital competencies, adolescence, youth, social networks, artificial intelligenceAbstract
Digital technologies are changing how we access knowledge and relate to others, especially in the case of adolescents and young people. However, these cultural changes are still far from being fully integrated into classrooms and the curriculum. The paper identifies three recent moments in the relationship that students maintain with these technologies: the digital immersion forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent confinement, the growing rejection and prohibition of screens in classrooms, and the educational consequences of the irruption of Generative Artificial Intelligence. In each of these situations, the paper reviews the effects of these technologies on the emotional and social development of young and adolescent people, as well as how they access information and knowledge both in the classroom and in everyday life. This analysis shows the difficulties that the educational system still has to integrate digital culture, preferring generally to exclude the use of screens in the classrooms, which will undoubtedly make it difficult for students to achieve the digital competencies required for an autonomous and critical use of these devices, consolidating their dependence on algorithms and the dynamics of use generated by technology companies. Instead, the paper proposes to promote these competencies by integrating technologies into the curriculum under the guidance of teachers, to help adolescents and youths achieve conscious, critical, and self-regulated immersion in digital culture.
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