Parametrizing ‘the digital’
Education research methods for platform ecologies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21785352 |
|---|---|
| Authors | T Philip Nichols (0000-0002-8648-1276, Baylor University), Robert J Leblanc (0000-0001-7551-9286, University of Lethbridge, corresponding author), Alexandra Thrall (0009-0006-2975-4991, Baylor University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 237-250 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Learning Media and Technology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1743-9884 • E-ISSN: 1743-9892 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17439884.2025.2502516 |
| OpenAlex | W4410357560 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 38 |
This conceptual article provides an outline of Manuel DeLanda’s concept of ‘parametrization' and its methodological possibilities for inquiry into emerging platform ecologies in education. Traditionally, education research has treated ‘the digital' as separate from the analog. However, transdisciplinary literature has shown how connective technologies blur these distinctions, expanding the scope of education research to include the interplay of social, technical, and political-economic relations within ‘the digital.' This complexity presents challenges for researchers in prioritizing aspects of these relations. To address this tension, we turn to DeLanda’s ‘parametrization' for setting inquiry parameters with ‘control knobs' to adjust the focus on relevant actors, activities, and interactions. By examining the influence of digital platforms like Google in educational settings, we illustrate how parametrization allows researchers to navigate scales and relations, offering insights into the nuanced impacts of digital technologies on teaching and learning practices
Economic growth · Economics · Engineering ethics · Environmental education · Higher education · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Sociology · Teaching method · Technology integration · Computer Science · Digital Education and Society · Engineering · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychology · Social Media and Politics
The Culture of Connectivity
The Platform Society
The Stack
Alien Phenomenology, or What It's Like to Be a Thing
A Review of the “Digital Turn” in the New Literacy Studies
The Googlization of Health Research
Entanglement HCI The Next Wave?
Removing obstacles to the pedagogical changes required by Jonassen's vision of authentic technology-enabled learning
When Atoms Meet Bits
What Does the ‘Postdigital’ Mean for Education? Three Critical Perspectives on the Digital, with Implications for Educational Research and Practice
‘Someone else in the universe is trying to teach you’
Googlization(s) of education
Governance on , with , behind , and beyond the Discord platform
Platform Studies in Education
Realism, materialism, and the assemblage
Assemblage Theory
Reassembling the Social
Automation, APIs and the distributed labour of platform pedagogies in Google Classroom
Infrastructure studies meet platform studies in the age of Google and Facebook
Media education and the limits of “literacy”
Successes and Challenges of the “New” College- and Career-Ready Standards
Postdigital science and education
New Philosophy of Society
A thousand plateaus
The politics of 'platforms
On assemblages and geography
Field Theory and Assemblage Theory
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |