Postphenomenology and education: From cyborg students to immersive classrooms

Authors

  • Jared Smith South East Technological University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33919/dasc.23.6.4

Keywords:

postphenomenology, cybernetics, education, technology, mediation

Abstract

This analysis uses a postphenomenological lens to provide insight into the shift occurring within society at large. It focuses on the educational domain, and arguing for a reevaluation of instructive approaches. Philosophical research into technology and education is seemingly lacking, and so this article seeks to fill the present gaps. This analysis initially delves into the postphenomenological frameworks of technological mediation, intentionality, and dimensions, to clearly differentiate the embodiment and cybernetic relationships as they are understood within various texts. Following this the epistemic and practical dimensions of these relations are explored to then be juxtaposed with the descriptive argument of the overall cultivating cybernetic relationship between human user and technological artefact in contemporary times, using the smartphone as the core example case study. Finally, a normative argument is made considering the previous cybernetic insight, in that if the classroom setting is to evolve and adapt, it too must embed technology within the classroom, lessons, and overall educational engagement. It represents an equalizing technological balance of cybernetic student and immersive classroom where the intentionality of user, technology, and classroom blend together to continue the cultivation of our blossoming relationship with technology.

References

Haraway, D. 1991. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. In Haraway, D. (ed.). Simians, Cyborgs and Women: THe Reinvention of Nature. 149–181. New York: Routledge.

Ihde, D. 1990. Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Irwin, S., D. Ihde. 2016. Digital Media: Human–Technology Connection. Lexington Books.

Kiran, A. 2015. Four Dimensions of Technological Mediation. In Rosenberger, R., P.-P. Verbeek (eds.). Postphenomenological Investigations: Essays on Human-Technology Relations. Lexington Books.

Rosenburg, R., P.-P. Verbeek. 2015. A Field Guide to Postphenomenology. In Rosenberger, R., P.-P. Verbeek (eds.). Postphenomenological Investigations: Essays on Human-Technology Relations. Lexington Books, 9–41.

Verbeek, P.-P. 2008. “Cyborg Intentionality: Rethinking the Phenomenology of Human – Technology Relations.” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 7, Issue 3.

Verbeek, P.-P. 2011. Moralizing Technology: Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things. University of Chicago Press.

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Published

2023-12-30

How to Cite

Smith, J. (2023). Postphenomenology and education: From cyborg students to immersive classrooms. Digital Age in Semiotics & Communication, 6, 57–73. https://doi.org/10.33919/dasc.23.6.4