Cyber Humanism in Education: Reclaiming Agency through AI and Learning Sciences

TL;DR

This paper introduces Cyber Humanism in Education as a framework to empower educators and learners to actively shape AI-enabled learning environments, emphasizing human agency and ethical participation amidst rapid AI integration.

Contribution

It conceptualizes AI in education as a socio-technical infrastructure co-created by humans and machines, proposing design pillars and practical case studies to enhance epistemic agency.

Findings

Prompt-based learning enhances epistemic agency.

AI literacy practices surface tensions around workload and equity.

Case studies demonstrate operationalization of cyber-humanist principles.

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping how knowledge is produced and validated in education. Rather than adding another digital tool, large language models reconfigure reading, writing, and coding into hybrid human-AI workflows, raising concerns about epistemic automation, cognitive offloading, and the de-professiona\-lisation of teachers. This paper proposes \emph{Cyber Humanism in Education} as a framework for reclaiming human agency in this landscape. We conceptualise AI-enabled learning environments as socio-technical infrastructures co-authored by humans and machines, and position educators and learners as epistemic agents and \emph{algorithmic citizens} who have both the right and the responsibility to shape these infrastructures. We articulate three pillars for cyber-humanist design, \emph{reflexive competence}, \emph{algorithmic citizenship}, and \emph{dialogic design}, and relate them to major international digital and AI competence frameworks. We then present higher-education case studies that operationalise these ideas through \emph{prompt-based learning} and a new \emph{Conversational AI Educator} certification within the EPICT ecosystem. The findings show how such practices can strengthen epistemic agency while surfacing tensions around workload, equity, and governance, and outline implications for the future of AI-rich, human-centred education.