Discourses on the Topic of Critical Digital Pedagogy: A Survey of the Literature

• In Event: Community, Pedagogy, and Possibility

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, a growing body of scholarship uniting strands of critical theory, digital cultural studies, and liberatory education has begun to coalesce around the term “critical digital pedagogy (CDP). This paper presents a survey of the published scholarship in the area of CDP, from 2002-2022. We trace CDP through its roots in liberatory education, through its “digital turn,” and into its establishment in various niches of postsecondary education. We map out “families of practice” characterizing critical digital pedagogy, including a) critical instructional design, b) humanizing online teaching and learning, and c) digital ungrading. Finally, we discuss open issues in CDP, including controversies in machine-learning, political activism beyond the classroom, and shifting power relations between students, faculty, and institutions.

Authors

• Earl Aguilera, California State University - East Bay

• Christina Salazar, Texas Woman's University