Keywords
Education; Technology; Care Ethics; Phenomenology; Foucault; Heidegger
Abstract
This thesis presents a critical analysis of digital classrooms, i.e., pre-made digital curriculum modules being used in in-person K–12 schools as a replacement for face-to-face instruction. By applying Martin Heidegger’s critique of modern technology, I will demonstrate that digital classrooms fundamentally alter the traditional classroom structure, centering it around domination and exploitation. I will expand Heidegger’s critique by drawing on Albert Borgman’s work to explain how digital classrooms commodify education, thus removing the possibility of a meaningful and enriching educational experience. These critiques run parallel to Michel Foucault’s critiques of discipline in schools. I will recount Foucault’s critiques, apply them to digital classrooms, and use ideas from the philosophy of technology to bring out the way modern technology exacerbates these critiques. Then, I transition to ethical views of education, which stand in opposition to authoritarian practices, including digital classrooms. I use Emmanuel Levinas and Gert Biesta to outline a phenomenological account of ethical relationships and their role in education. Then, I apply feminist ethics of care, particularly the work of Nel Noddings, to offer a pragmatic and specific framework for manifesting ethical views of education. I argue that the care-centered approach has constituted much of what has improved education for students starting in the late twentieth century. However, care work is often taken for granted and rarely articulated. Giving due credit to care-centered perspectives, I draw out a critique of digital classrooms, the way they undermine care, and the way they dehumanize students.
Thesis Completion Year
2026
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Rudow, Brooke
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
Philosophy
Thesis Discipline
Philosophy
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
McCobb-Pratt, Jade R., "Who Cares? A Critique of Digital Classrooms in K–12 Education and What It Means for Students and Teachers" (2026). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 520.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/520
Included in
Continental Philosophy Commons, Educational Technology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Feminist Philosophy Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons
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