M.10. Navigating the Controversial. Media Practices and Educational Challenges in the Digital Age

In the age of algorithms and artificial intelligence, classrooms have become spaces of constant negotiation between access, control, power and critical autonomy. This panel examines how educators address controversial issues related to the use of digital technologies in schools, interrogating the media practices of both teachers and students as well as the school policies that regulate them.

The panel’s topic focuses on the emergence of controversial issues tied to technology use: from the management of personal devices in the classroom to the implications of online behaviour in the classroom, from gender representations in digital media to affective and sexuality education, to students’ growing interactions with AI tools. These issues raise pedagogical, ethical, and political tensions that affect both educators and school leaders.

The goal of the panel is to investigate how the education sector responds to such controversies: Which forms of critical media literacy are required by professionals in the field of education and by students? How can school and educational policies support media practices oriented toward democratic participation and civic responsibility?

The panel welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions from diverse learning contexts that document experiences, tensions, and innovations in addressing controversial topics brought about by digital technologies in both formal and informal educational settings. Through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the aim is to identify practices that strengthen informed, pluralistic democracies and foster resilience against the polarizing and surveillant dynamics of today’s digital ecosystem.