DAD: Some Historical-Epistemological Considerations on its Judicious Use

ABSTRACT

This paper deals with the pros and cons in relation to the teaching strategy imposed specifically in Italy by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has involved and continues to involve significant changes in the setting in which students and teachers interact. The approach is multidisciplinary, in that the perspective advanced is both historical and epistemological in nature. Particular attention is paid to the possibility of erecting an argumentative framework within the operational educational context as it takes place in the temporal and spatial dimensions of the school. Suggestions are provided regarding the set of “tools” useful for the constructive and creative management of didactic-pedagogical modalities inherent to DAD (acronym for the Italian “Didattica A Distanza”, i.e., distance/remote teaching and learning), including combining the quantitative facets with the necessary qualitative facets, which are expressed in the category of the “bello” (beautiful), thus introducing the aesthetic value. Therefore, the concept of “benessere” (well-being) and that of “malessere” (malaise) are associated with the concept of “bellessere” (beautiful-being).