Social reading as a third space learning practice. Futuristic Directions for Education


The spaces in which education takes place are becoming progressively more fluid, especially when we think of the advances in the development of increasingly sophisticated and all-consuming technologies and digital tools.  The resulting network can no longer be configured as an actual place, confined by the traditional physical spaces in which schooling takes place, just as these spaces can no longer be delimited by the digital territory.   Today we need to talk about “another” space, a third space, one that is not just physical or digital, but made up of a continuous dense network of contents, interactions, experiences, stories and learning experiences; “another” space, made up of physical and virtual connections, of presence and distance, of the formal and informal.  One practice that can be considered both connatural and constituent of this “other” didactic space is social reading.  On the basis of these premises, this article analyzes these practices, and proposes some possible future directions for education.