The History of Education in the digital era

Possibilities, risks and uncertainties

Abstract

This article examines the potential and limitations of Relationship, Information, and Communication Techonologies in networked work as well as in the field of digitisation, cataloguing and dissemination of scientific articles and sources in the area of History of Education, taking the Hecumen database as an example, developed within the framework of the “Connecting History of Education” project (2020-2024). In the first part, we reflect on the production, circulation, and reception of scientific knowledge in the digital world, especially in specialised journals on the History of Education. The second part presents the development of the Hecumen database and analyses the potential and limitations of historical-educational scientific production with the help of Artificial Intelligence. The third part asserts the role of the historian as an essential specialist who acts as a professional researcher and mediator between technology and the humanities. The fourth part presents a series of conclusions and questions that arise regarding what and how we research and disseminate/transfer historical knowledge in the digital age. We conclude that a critical analysis of digital history and a balance between enthusiasm and concerns about the use of technological tools in the humanities are central to the development and use of the Hecumen database, which combines the experience and supervision of researchers in the History of Education with the use of Artificial Intelligence.