Student Engagement and the Role of Technology

This paper examines our collective exploratory research on Anthropology and Sociology students at Concordia University. As teaching faculty members at Concordia, we have all observed a significant shift in our student population over the past fifteen years. They appear to be more detached and less involved in their studies, a phenomenon that has piqued our collective curiosity. Our first insight into the possible reasons behind this shift came from Rob Beamish’s The Promise of Sociology (2010), where he explored the relationship between technology and knowledge. Inspired by Beamish, we sought to understand the relationship between technology and students’ performance. At the beginning of this research, we never imagined that the world would be under lockdown because of a pandemic (2020–2022) and forced to rely on technology; anyone teaching at the height of COVID-19 was obligated to use technology, which makes Beamish’s argument an even more relevant place to start. Lastly, we delved into the potential impact of technology on students’ health.