Digital Affective Literacy and Algorithmic Mediation in the Reconfiguration of Educational Relationships in Higher Education
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In higher education, generative AI introduces new forms of mediation within students’ practices, reshaping the educational relationship between embodied presence and algorithmic interaction. This study examines how students’ knowledge and use of AI, in relation to flipped learning and UDL, inform relational configurations in university settings. Using a mixed-methods design based on a transnational sample, it analyses perceived autonomy, inclusion, and ethical awareness from socio-relational and critical pedagogical perspectives. Findings reveal ambivalent configurations in which enhanced agency and perceived inclusion coexist with emotional outsourcing and dependency, redefining proximity, responsibility, and pedagogical roles. The study calls for affective-digital literacy in teacher education and proposes “algorithmic affective mediation” as an interpretive pedagogical lens grounded in students’ AI practices.
Authors: Antonella Coppi, Sabrina Lucilla Barone
Institutions: Italian University Line, Pegaso University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225759824