An ontological turn: being and becoming with digital technologies in education
Article / Journal
Author(s) / editor(s):
Ann-Thérèse Arstorp & Andreas Lund
Year: 2025
Language(s): English
Abstract:
The paper argues that educational technology needs an “ontological turn” – a shift from mainly epistemological concerns (skills, pedagogy, societal impact) to questions about what it means to be human with and through technology. Reviewing three dominant perspectives in existing research (digital skills/competences, pedagogical, and societal/humanistic), the authors contend that generative AI intensifies ontological dilemmas: AI can mimic, “think for,” and even replicate us, despite our limited understanding of how it produces its outputs. This unsettles assumptions about human agency and identity. The paper concludes that teacher education should explicitly address these ontological questions and broaden how technology is conceptualised in educational contexts.
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2572384
Post created by: Virginia Signorini