Digital devices, initially viewed simply as extraordinary technological tools, have taken on the role of true “digital companions” that shape the dynamics of daily life. Growing up with social media has various positive and negative effects on fundamental relationships, transforming the way the younger generation develops. However, attitudes toward technology are shaped by life experiences based on the internal and external needs of the user and on a person’s ability to learn and take advantage of the opportunities it offers – or to step back in the face of overwhelming adaptation.
The multifaceted transformation of education in the digital era challenges the intricate relationships between technological innovation, pedagogical evolution, and learning outcomes. Successful educational transformation requires a delicate balance between technological advancement, pedagogical principles and creative practices, suggesting that digital schooling transformation goes beyond technological.
The focus of the success of this transformation must remain on creating sustainable and inclusive educational systems that effectively integrate digital technologies while maintaining the human element essential to learning (Ganeshwari & Geetha, 2025; Pediconi et al., 2024). The needs analysis of students’ questions regarding the app highlights a clear need to strike a balance between the digital world and the real world: the digital realm must serve real-life experiences as a tool that supports and fosters offline relationships, offering opportunities for students to meet one another and form new friendships. This is a positive use of digital technology that does not trap the individual in the dynamics of online recognition, with feedback and likes based on image.
The findings collected throughout the various actions point away from the features of social networks that rely on images and asynchronous exchanges. According to the findings, students prefer:
- video calls rather than text chats – no more keyboard warriors, ‘show your face’!
- studying with friends rather than alone;
- a digital environment that encourages them to go out and have new experiences rather than hypnotising them with image-based content;
- a more private and personal digital space to find themselves, and a digital public space that offers the opportunity to meet others face-to-face, both online and offline.
Here some provisional synthetic insights that could be useful in addressing the developers of START-DS new app:
- It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but about listening to the needs of students who have not yet been heard;
- The idea of an app serving as a repository for activities, including links to other apps, is a good one (many existing apps are very interesting and can be recommended as a guided resource for school life);
- It would try to follow up on what the students suggested in the questionnaire: the app’s features could include all those they suggested;
- It would be better to have an app they can use both inside and outside school, rather than just during break time.
The psycho-pedagogical background, created by bringing together the outcomes of the various workshops – organised to give students a voice and to synthesise the partners’ ideas – and the scientific literature on the subjects, suggests an app for a class with several rooms:
- LAB ROOM: a room for students and teachers with a more didactic focus on homework, exercises, etc.;
- CAFÈ ROOM: a room for classmates and friends with video-calls functionality that encourages the exchange and sharing of school and non-school materials and ideas;
- DEAR-IO ROOM: a confidence room for oneself that includes diary functions;
- LANDSCAPE ROOM: a window on the world with a news feed and that offers group virtuous challenges to be completed in the real world, encouraging students to go out together.
On the one hand, the young people we have involved are no longer children; on the other hand, high school teachers often have to deal with the challenges of adolescence that arise in the classroom; even secondary school principals know that they are not dealing with children but with young people who are shaping the future. Our future, too.
Below are the students’ works created during a two-day workshop at Mamiani High School, organised by the University of Urbino. Stay creative!
References
Ganeshwari, N. A., & Geetha, V. (2025). Transformation of education in digital age: A comprehensive analysis. Thiagarajar College of Preceptors Edu Spectra, 7(1), 84-89.
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.34293/eduspectra.v7i1.11
Pediconi, M. G., Brunori, M., & S., Olijnyk, E. (2024). TEACHERS AT WORK DURING THE PANDEMIC. A qualitative
research about transformative experiences and resilience at school. Prima Educatione, 8, 129-160.
