Digital Belonging and the Politics of Inclusion in Machine-Mediated Classrooms

Author First name, Last name, Institution

• Efthymia Efthymiou, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi CampusFollow
• Alexandros Argyriadis, Hellenic Mediterranean University
• Dimitra V. Katsarou, University of the Aegean
• Salma Daiban, United Arab Emirates University
• Maria Sofologi, University of Ioannina
• Agathi Argyriadi, Frederick University
• Evangelos Mantsos, University of Western Macedonia

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Implications for Students Mental Health in the Digital Age AI and Cyber Behavior

Publication Date

3-26-2026

Abstract

This chapter offers a narrative review of how artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes recognition, identity, and belonging in classrooms, for neurodiverse learners. Treating AI as a relational actor, the chapter synthesizes literature across extended cognition, recognition theory, care ethics, and design justice to show how intelligent systems co-produce participation and self-understanding. Predictable, non-judgmental AI interlocutors, e.g., robots, voice assistants, and chatbots, lower anxiety and scaffold expression. However, affect-and engagement-inference systems misrecognize neu- rodivergent expression, with scientific cautions against facial-expression ‘emotion recognition’ and emerging policy prohibitions in schools. The argument is about interpretable models, dataset governance, participatory co-design with neurodivergent students, and procurement aligned with ethical and legal parameters. Implications for practice include modalities of recognized participation, resisting privatized personalization, and using AI to support human relationships in classrooms.

DOI Link

10.4018/979-8-3373-4222-1.ch003

ISBN

[9798337342221, 9798337342238, 9798337342245]

ISSN

2327-0411

Publisher

IGI Global Scientific Publishing

First Page

51

Last Page

67

Disciplines

Education

Keywords

Politics (0.63) | Sociology (0.61) | Inclusion (mineral) (0.59) | Narrative (0.56) | Economic Justice (0.47) | Argument (complex analysis) (0.46) | Public relations (0.46) | Engineering ethics (0.44) | Modalities (0.43) | Citizen journalism (0.41) | Epistemology (0.36) | Participatory design (0.34) | Egalitarianism (0.33) | Political science (0.31) | Field (mathematics) (0.29) | Government (linguistics) (0.28) | Diversity (politics) (0.28) | Sociotechnical system (0.28) | Participatory action research (0.28) | Ethics of care (0.27) | Psychology (0.27) | Knowledge management (0.26) | Social psychology (0.26) | Public policy (0.25) | Procurement (0.25)

Scopus ID

105036464535

Recommended Citation

Efthymiou, Efthymia; Argyriadis, Alexandros; Katsarou, Dimitra V.; Daiban, Salma; Sofologi, Maria; Argyriadi, Agathi; and Mantsos, Evangelos, "Digital Belonging and the Politics of Inclusion in Machine-Mediated Classrooms" (2026). All Works. 8291.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/8291

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no