‘Daddy should search for help on Google instead of swearing … ’: escaping the boundaries of technologically mediated learning

Abstract

Affectively charged social media exchanges pertaining to remote schooling in Hungary during the early stages of the pandemic provided unique insights into dispositions towards technologically mediated learning. In this article, we explore how parents and teachers responded to the increased porosity, mobility, and visibility of classroom interactions during pandemic-related school closures. We wanted to know what emotive responses to the intensification of digital media use in the home revealed about boundaries of learning in Hungary. Data were gathered with SentiOneTM’s AI-based social listening tool and analysed by coupling an attunement to affect with a multimodal analytic. We found a lack of shared understanding of what technologically mediated learning from home entails placed boundaries of learning under threat. To enable shared understandings and strengthen trust between students, teachers, and parents, we propose protected spaces that escape public scrutiny for joint digital practices to evolve.