DIGITIZATION AND EDUCATION

critical considerations in the context of childhood

Abstract

The phenomenon of digitalization within capitalist society has been reshaping contemporary processes of labor, education, and sociability, thereby placing human development at risk. In the context of childhood, children are socially more vulnerable to algorithmic screens, especially through entertainment activities and the occupation of leisure time. Problematizing the contradictions that arise from the tensions regarding the uses and disuses of technologies is a complex, contradictory, and multifaceted endeavor. The general objective of this study is to discuss the uses and disuses of digital technologies during childhood, within the broader phenomenon of social and educational digitalization particularly that of digital platforms while paying attention to their potential impacts on human development, given that diverse modes, durations, spaces, and intentionalities of screen exposure are emerging in contemporary society. This study seeks to develop a theoretical and conceptual analysis grounded in a critical-dialectical approach, considering the relationships among Education, Technologies, and Childhood in their different contexts, supported by the theoretical-methodological principles of Historical-Dialectical Materialism. The findings suggest that the phenomenon of digitalization has a substantial impact on children’s human development, affecting aspects related to autonomy, freedom, intellectual development, and learning, as well as dimensions associated with health and subjectivity.