From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship

This conceptual article theorises the tensioned interplay between digitalization, datafication and automation and subjectness in education by asking what intensifying datafication and automation means for teacher–student relationships and how we understand and approach education. Theoretically, the...

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Main Author: Pekka Mertala
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Journal of Childhood, Education and Society 2024-07-01
Series:Journal of Childhood, Education & Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.j-ces.com/index.php/jces/article/view/394
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author Pekka Mertala
author_facet Pekka Mertala
author_sort Pekka Mertala
collection DOAJ
description This conceptual article theorises the tensioned interplay between digitalization, datafication and automation and subjectness in education by asking what intensifying datafication and automation means for teacher–student relationships and how we understand and approach education. Theoretically, the paper draws on Buber’s ideas of the dialogical I–Thou and objectified I–It as the key forms of human relationships. The core argument is that increasing datafication and automation steers the teacher–student relationship towards an objectified I–It relationship instead of the dialogical I–Thou relationship, which Buber (and others such as Biesta, another main influencer of the present paper) saw as the ideal. Literature-informed examples of various forms of educational datafication and automation are provided to support and concretise the arguments.
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publishDate 2024-07-01
publisher Journal of Childhood, Education and Society
record_format Article
series Journal of Childhood, Education & Society
spelling doaj-art-e4643528e85748c39830e8012384cf222025-08-20T01:47:26ZengJournal of Childhood, Education and SocietyJournal of Childhood, Education & Society2717-638X2024-07-015210.37291/2717638X.202452394382From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationshipPekka Mertala0University of Jyväskylä This conceptual article theorises the tensioned interplay between digitalization, datafication and automation and subjectness in education by asking what intensifying datafication and automation means for teacher–student relationships and how we understand and approach education. Theoretically, the paper draws on Buber’s ideas of the dialogical I–Thou and objectified I–It as the key forms of human relationships. The core argument is that increasing datafication and automation steers the teacher–student relationship towards an objectified I–It relationship instead of the dialogical I–Thou relationship, which Buber (and others such as Biesta, another main influencer of the present paper) saw as the ideal. Literature-informed examples of various forms of educational datafication and automation are provided to support and concretise the arguments. https://www.j-ces.com/index.php/jces/article/view/394AutomationDataficationDigitalizationEducationRelationality
spellingShingle Pekka Mertala
From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
Journal of Childhood, Education & Society
Automation
Datafication
Digitalization
Education
Relationality
title From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
title_full From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
title_fullStr From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
title_full_unstemmed From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
title_short From IT to I-It: Digitalization, datafication, automation, and the teacher-student relationship
title_sort from it to i it digitalization datafication automation and the teacher student relationship
topic Automation
Datafication
Digitalization
Education
Relationality
url https://www.j-ces.com/index.php/jces/article/view/394
work_keys_str_mv AT pekkamertala fromittoiitdigitalizationdataficationautomationandtheteacherstudentrelationship