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Articles

Vol. 3 No. 3 (2023): Parents/guardians, education and digital technologies

The history of the global evolution of digitally connected families 1990-2022

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.f14d2707
Submitted
12 August 2026
Published
15-08-2026

Abstract

This is an historical study of the evolution of the digitally connected families of the world between 1990 and 2022, and their role in growing the world’s young being digital. It studies the emergence of a global phenomenon that within several decades transformed the lives and learning of most of the world’s young and their families, and yet in 2022 remained largely unseen, unrecognised, and lightly researched or documented. It examines the natural evolution, the magnitude of the transformation, its distinctiveness, the marked global commonalities, the main evolutionary stages, identifies the key features and trends, and flags the likely implications for educators and society at large.

It underscores the importance of studying the digitally connected families as a global social and educational phenomenon in its own right, where the families have charted their own evolution and adopted a mode of growing their children being digital, independent of the schools and governments.

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