Sensation that matters: the posthuman nature of digital pedagogy in the context of distance education

Abstract

In this study, through the analysis of autoethnography, I would like to suggest that the sense of uncertainty as posthuman embodiment matters in digital pedagogy. In the era of globalization, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, distance education has become a popular model of teaching and learning in different parts of the world. The content of distance education is mediated by digital pedagogy, which refers toteaching and learning with the application of contemporary digital technologies such as Zoom. Based on my work experience as a teacher who teaches with video-conferencing between Taiwan and mainland Chinafrom 2015 to 2020, the sense of uncertainty emerging from the practice of digital pedagogy is worth examining because it not only propels teachers to take action but also shapes the way teachers teach and lead students. Compared to a humanist view, posthumanism considers the teacher-technology relationship to be a form of intra-action, which means there is no pre-existing subject, but a subject-in-motion in the practice of digital pedagogy. The sense of uncertainty would be an experience of embodiment rather than a problem waiting to be solved. In addition, because it forces teachers to think about how to improve the effect of teaching and further take action to intervene in the original arrangement of the distance education, it isan opportunity, rather than an issue, for change. The posthumanist analysis might be the key to developing alternative epistemologies about digital pedagogy and even changing the idea of designing curriculum conducted by digital pedagogy.