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Convenor(s): Alessio Fabiano (Universita' Degli Studi Basilacata, Italy); Claudio De Luca (Universita' Degli Studi Basilacata, Italy); Teodora Pezzano (Universita' Della Calabria, Italy); Giuseppe Spadafora (Universita' Della Calabria, Italy)
Presentation 3
Hybrid Teaching and Fundamental Skills: Rethinking Curriculum in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Andrea Cirolia
Università della Basilicata, Italy
Within the current phase of geopolitical disorder and accelerated digital transformation, the diffusion of artificial intelligence and the datafication of social processes are reshaping learning environments and challenging traditional curricular frameworks in schools and universities. This paper argues that the widespread tendency to oppose technological competencies to the strengthening of basic skills risks producing a false dichotomy, obscuring the interdependence between digital innovation and the formative foundations of democratic education.(Dewey, 1916; Bruner, 1996; OECD, 2019) By framing artificial intelligence within the current geopolitical disorder, the paper highlights how the educational use of AI is entangled with broader processes of disinformation, algorithmic governance, and the reshaping of democratic participation. In contexts increasingly mediated by platforms and intelligent systems, education is called to cultivate critical thinking and epistemic responsibility as core dimensions of a renewed democratic citizenship.(UNESCO, 2023; OECD, 2019) The contribution situates itself within the ongoing debate on the relationship between democracy, education, and artificial intelligence, proposing hybrid teaching as a pedagogical and curricular lens through which fundamental skills and AI-related competencies can be integrated in a coherent and intentional way. Hybrid teaching is here conceptualized not as a merely organizational arrangement or a technical alternation between physical and digital spaces, but as a design framework capable of aligning times, spaces, languages, and tools with essential learning outcomes.(Calvani, 2011; Rivoltella, 2020) From this perspective, the reinforcement of basic skills—such as reading comprehension, argumentative competence, logical reasoning, and linguistic proficiency—emerges as a necessary condition for the meaningful and critical appropriation of intelligent technologies. Without such foundations, the educational integration of artificial intelligence risks amplifying superficial learning practices, cognitive fragmentation, and vulnerability to disinformation and algorithmic manipulation.(Trinchero, 2014; UNESCO, 2023) Drawing on a theoretical framework that brings together curriculum studies, general didactics, and democratic pedagogy, the paper outlines how hybrid teaching can foster a coherent alignmentbetween educational aims, teaching methodologies, and technological tools, avoiding technocratic or solutionist approaches to innovation. In this sense, digital technologies do not replacefoundational skills but may function as environments for their consolidation, transfer, and critical enactment within the digital public sphere.(Bruner, 1996; OECD, 2019; UNESCO, 2023)
