Abstract:

This contribution explores, from a pedagogical and interdisciplinary perspective, the transformations generated by the digital ecosystem on human life, cognitive processes and educational practices. The growing fusion between the online and offline dimensions, described as the on-life condition, profoundly changes the coordinates of the imagination, desire and learning, fuelling a continuous present that redefines our experience of time, emotional grammars and our relationship with reality. In this scenario, educators and learners inhabit digital spaces that influence relationships, languages and forms of sociality, making critical reflection on the educational implications of technologies urgent.

Starting from a dialogue with Embodied Cognitive Science and distributed cognition theory, this contribution goes beyond the traditional mind-body separation, emphasising how learning is a situated, dynamic process co-constructed between the individual, the body and the environment. This perspective allows us to rethink educational action in relational and embodied terms, recognising that technology is no longer a simple external support, but an intrinsic element of contemporary human experience.

The text also addresses the pedagogical landscapes of the digital age, marked by the digital divide, the rapid spread of social platforms and the transformations accelerated by the post-pandemic period. It proposes an approach that goes beyond both technophobic and technodeterministic positions, valuing the ability of educational communities to critically observe the new territories of mediated sociality, in which technologies operate as true social machines. In this perspective, teacher training takes on a central role: it must integrate physical, narrative and ethical dimensions, promoting the construction of a professional habitus capable of inhabiting the complexity of the present and guiding students in the conscious use of digital languages.

The contribution also presents an educational experience based on Embodied Cognition, carried out in school contexts through the Enabling Drama Workshop. The narratives produced by the students – logbooks and cognitive autobiographies – provide a mature picture of their relationship with social media. Awareness emerges of the risks of self-exposure, the dynamics of cyberbullying and the issue of technological addiction, but also the perception of the educational potential of social media, often underestimated by schools. Students would like to see greater integration of digital platforms into everyday teaching, recognising their ability to make learning more engaging and closer to their own experiences.

In conclusion, the need for schools to be seen as communities of practice capable of renewing themselves through continuous engagement with cultural and technological changes is emphasised. Interdisciplinarity, an understanding of technology as an agent of transformation and the development of educational and cultural mediation skills become essential elements. Digital skills for life are no longer ancillary skills, but structural components of existence, fundamental to supporting human transitions in the Social Age.

Keywords:

On-life, Embodied Cognition, Digital Ecosystem, Informal Education, Social Media.