Understanding Digital Health as Public Pedagogy: A Critical Framework

Emma Rich and Andy Miah
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Emma Rich: Department of Education, University of Bath, Bath, North East Somerset BA2 7AY, UK
Andy Miah: Creative Futures Institute, School of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland, PA1 2BE, UK

Societies, 2014, vol. 4, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: This paper argues on behalf of a public pedagogy approach to developing a critical understanding of digital health technologies. It begins by appraising the hitherto polarised articulations of digital innovation as either techno-utopian or techno-dystopian, examining these expectations of technology and considering the tensions between them. It subsequently outlines how a public pedagogy approach can help mediate between these views, offering a more contextualised, socio-political perspective of mHealth. This approach teases out the nuances of digital health by engaging with the complexities of embodied learning. Furthermore, it urges caution against viewing these pedagogical forces as one of transference, or simple governance. To this end, we therefore contextualise our critique of digital health, within an attempt to reconstitute an understanding of public pedagogies of technology.

Keywords: public pedagogy; mobile health; mHealth; digital health; body; prosthetics; technology; learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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