Training School Activities to Promote a Conscious Use of Social Media and Human Development According to the Ecological Systems Theory

The analysis of the scientific literature suggests interesting results both on the positive and negative consequences of the use of the internet and social media during human development, during the school age. Yet several studies underline the need to consider Internet as a life context, therefore mediated by environmental factors, that can influence human development. In this article we emphasize the importance of the "educability" of the Internet and social media environments following an ecological perspective. In this regard, according to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of human development, we argue that it is possible to educate the school microsystem through specific training activities and innovative tools that assist students in analysing the effects of Web content personalization, understanding the algorithms controlling the social media mechanisms, and realising how toxic content propagate on the Web.