DIGITAL AFFECTIVE LITERACY AND ALGORITHMIC MEDIATION IN THE RECONFIGURATION OF EDUCATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
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.
Keywords
References
Abeysekera, L., & Dawson, P. (2015). Motivation and cognitive load in the flipped classroom: Definition, rationale and a call for research. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2014.934336
Baig, M. I., & Yadegaridehkordi, E. (2023). Flipped classroom in higher education: A systematic literature review and research challenges. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00426-z
Biesta, G. J. J. (2020). Riscoprire l’insegnamento. Raffaello Cortina.
Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (Eds.). (2013). Feedback in higher and professional education. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
CAST. (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. https://udlguidelines.cast.org
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Cuomo, S., Biagini, G., & Ranieri, M. (2022). Artificial Intelligence Literacy: Che cos'è e come promuoverla. Dall'analisi della letteratura ad una proposta di framework. Media Education, 13(2), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.36253/me-13374
de Sousa, R. (2004). Emotions: What I know, what I’d like to think I know, and what I’d like to think. In R. C. Solomon (Ed.), Thinking about feeling (pp. 61–75). Oxford University Press.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. (2022). Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2766/153756
Fabbri, L., Striano, M., & Melacarne, C. (2008). L'insegnante riflessivo: Coltivazione e trasformazione delle pratiche professionali. FrancoAngeli.
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. https://doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487
Holmes, W., & Porayska-Pomsta, K. (Eds.). (2022). The ethics of artificial intelligence in education: Practices, challenges, and debates. Routledge.
Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Küchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., Gasser, U., Groh, G., Günnemann, S., Hüllermeier, E., Krusche, S., Kutyniok, G., Michaeli, T., Nerdel, C., Pfeffer, J., Poquet,
O., Sailer, M., Schmidt, A., Seidel, T., Stadler, M., Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, 102274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274
Laupichler, M. C., Aster, A., Schirch, J., & Raupach, T. (2022). Artificial intelligence literacy in higher and adult education: A scoping literature review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100101
Luckin, R., Holmes, W., Griffiths, M., & Forcier, L. B. (2016). Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education. Pearson.
Mortari, L. (2015). Filosofia della cura. Raffaello Cortina.
Ng, D. T. K., Leung, J. K. L., Chu, S. K. W., & Qiao, M. S. (2021). Conceptualising AI literacy: An exploratory review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 2, 100041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100041
Nussbaum, M. C. (2001). Upheavals of thought: The intelligence of emotions. Cambridge University Press.
Panciroli, C., & Rivoltella, P. C. (2023). Pedagogia algoritmica: Per una riflessione educativa sull'intelligenza artificiale. Scholé.
Perkins, M., Furze, L., Roe, J., & MacVaugh, J. (2024). The Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS): A framework for ethical integration of generative AI in educational assessment. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(6). https://doi.org/10.53761/q3azde36
Pretorius, L., & Cahusac de Caux, B. (2024). The AI literacy framework for higher education: A grounded theory exploration of the foundational, social, conceptual, ethical, and affective domains of AI literacy. In B. Cahusac de Caux, L. Pretorius, & M. K. Macaulay (Eds.), Generative AI in higher education: The ChatGPT effect (pp. 23–34). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003510635-3
Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal Design for Learning. ASCD.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Sharples, M. (2023). Towards social generative AI for education: Theory, practices and ethics. Learning: Research and Practice, 9(2), 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2023.2261131
Skinner, B. F. (1958). Teaching machines. Science, 128(3330), 969–977. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.128.3330.969
UNESCO. (2023). Guidance for generative AI in education and research. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54675/EWZM9535
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32043/gsd.v10i3.1806
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 ITALIAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH EDUCATION, SPORT AND INCLUSIVE DIDACTICS

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Italian Journal of Health Education, Sports and Inclusive Didactics
Publisher: Cares srl – REN Press (since 2026). Previously published by Gaia srl – Edizioni Universitarie Romane (2017–2025).
ISSN: 2532-3296 E-ISSN: 3103-5744
Italian Journal of Health Education, Sports and Inclusive Didactics
