SCREENS AND DREAMS: EDUCATION IN THE AGE OF ILLUSION

Апстракт

This paper examines the challenges, paradoxes, and transformations shaping contemporary education under the influence of digital technology, artificial intelligence, and dominant media culture. Rapid technological advancement has generated new cognitive and communicative patterns that profoundly affect how young people learn, think, and construct their identities. The paper employs a comparative theoretical analysis supported by relevant international and national research, complemented by professional insights grounded in the author’s long-standing experience in the education sector. It examines shifts in value orientations, linguistic habits, and educational behaviours, with particular emphasis on the influence of social networks on attention, self-perception, and interpersonal relations.
Special attention is given to the widening generational gap between students immersed in digital environments and teachers originating largely from the analogue era, who often struggle to integrate digital tools into pedagogical practice. This gap is not only technological but also pedagogical and cultural, challenging the traditional role of the teacher as the principal authority and mediator of knowledge. The paper further investigates broader cultural implications, including shortened attention spans, the predominance of visual communication, and the culture of visibility and self-promotion that shape students’ internal motivation, self-discipline, and cognitive development. In the Macedonian context, the study highlights the additional challenge of linguistic erosion and identity insecurity within a global climate of cultural uniformity. A central focus is placed on the integration of artificial intelligence in education—from its potential to support personalized learning to the risks of cognitive passivity and the erosion of independent critical thought. The paper ultimately argues for a new educational paradigm that harmonizes technological innovation with humanistic values, strengthens cultural and linguistic identity, and preserves the human dimension of learning.