Istantanee scolastiche del futuro: foto e parole di una didattica con smartphone e Instagram nelle scuole secondarie della generazione Alpha

Characterized by attributes such as digital, mobile, social, visual and global, Alpha students bring with them the potential for significant changes in teaching and learning processes. This qualitative research aims to explore the transformation generated through the educational use of smartphones and Instagram in a school of Bragança (Portugal). A mixed-method approach was adopted using Photovoice, research-action, and netnography with the aim of obtaining an in-depth understanding of the photos and captions that emerged from a selection of 54 students. The article introduces the four methodological segments: Mobile Learning, Media Education, Net Learning and Social Learning Network, that justify the use of the smartphone as an educational gadget and of social networks as a virtual learning environment, and then looks at longitudinal studies on generations as variables of education and teaching. Lastly, five school snapshots will be shown, where we can see the change activated through the international research project Edu-social Algorithm.