Virtual Worlds, Learning Tools or Risk for Addiction?

Abstract

The chapter aims to provide an exploration of phenomena related to the use of technology-supported programs in the education field, with a specific focus on virtual worlds. In a psycho-sociological perspective with a psychoanalytic approach, the essay provides a literature analysis. Papers about virtual worlds and internet addiction are detected in order to explore the relationship among them. By studying mass media publications, emerging problems related to the use of technological tools in school are revealed on local and global scale. The proposal is to analyse the introduced issues by re-inscribing them within the coexistence context where they emerge. The highlighted hypothesis focuses on technology use as deeply marked by emotional approaches, determined by local cultures, which are shared among people participating to a specific context. It is possible to face specific issues, which afflict school professionals, students, and families, by analyzing emotional symbolizations they share.