A presentation introducing the concept of Onlife, prepared as part of the Erasmus Plus ONLIFE project examining online education and training. The information era, along with the technologization process, makes it difficult to avoid the use of technological devices and the hyperconnectivity that they entail. In recent years, advances in technology have generated a considerable and extensive wave of changes and transformations in all areas of life, including the self. In the case of young people, the effects of this hyperconnectivity are being experienced with greater intensity since they are in the middle of their identity development. Hence, digital devices may be influencing the identity definition of our younger generations.

1. ONLIFE: Empower hybrid Competences for Onlife Adaptable
Teaching in School Education in times of pandemic
Module 1: What is ONLIFE?
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This PowerPoint
reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained herein.

2. What is Onlife? (Floridi,2015)
•Onlife - a term used by Luciano Floridi (2015) to
express the lived experience of ‘ever-increasing’
pervasiveness of information and communication
technologies
•More and more of our daily activities are influenced
by technology
•Onlife concerns the transformation that our offline
and online experiences and lives are inextricably
interwoven
Floridi L. 2015, The onlife manifesto: Being human in a hyperconnected era. Springer Nature.

3. Onlife Origins
•February 2012 - the European Commission (DG
Connect) launched “The ONLIFE Initiative—a
Concept Reengineering Exercise” within the
context of the Digital Agenda for Europe
•Scholars and experts were invited to discuss the
impact of ICT on individual, social and public lives
•the initial focus was on re-assessing the concepts
with which we aim to understand and address the
changes

4. Onlife Origins
•The EC developed concrete, effective policy
guidance for what would constitute the good
life in a digital or hyperconnected era.
•Fostered by new digital literacies
•Through:
•virtue ethics
•flourishing contentment and
•harmony

5. Onlife Origins
•"Onlife Manifesto" produced as part
of the European Digital Agenda
•State of the individual who struggles
to distinguish the difference between
online and offline
•Characterised by information
overload
The Onlife Manifesto: download form
https://www.academia.edu/9742506/The_Onlife_Manifesto_Being_Human_in_a_
Hyperconnected_Era

6. Onlife Origins
Four transformations were identified:
•blurring the distinction between reality and
virtuality
•blurring the distinctions between human, machine
and nature
•movement from information scarcity to
information abundance
•shift from the importance of entities to the primacy
of interactions
Onlife Initiative, 2015. Background document: Rethinking public spaces in the digital transition. In The Onlife
Manifesto (pp. 41-48). Springer, Cham..

7. Onlife Origins
•ICT enables the re-distribution of tasks and
responsibilities between humans and
technologies (like driverless cars)
•Causes hyperconnectivity, overinformation
•Attention divided among many tasks (Wellner, 2019)
Wellner, G., 2019. Onlife Attention: Attention in the Digital Age. In Hyperconnectivity and Digital
Reality (pp. 47-65). Springer, Cham.

8. Onlife Origins
• Difficult to avoid the use of technological devices and
hyperconnectivity
• Concern over impact of digital devices on young people
• Affects human development and identity formation
(Muñoz Rodríguez et al., 2020)
• Very important to education (Sánchez-Rojo et al., 2022)
• e.g. links to blended learning and e-learning
Muñoz Rodríguez, J.M., Pessoa, T. and Martín-Lucas, J., 2020, October. The OnLife self: CONECT-ID. Construction of
Youth Identity in a Hyperconnected World. In Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for
Enhancing Multiculturality (pp. 925-929).
Sánchez-Rojo, A., García del Dujo, Á., Muñoz-Rodríguez, J.M. and Dacosta, A., 2022. Grammars of “Onlife” Identities:
Educational Re-significations. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 41(1), pp.3-19

9. Onlife Origins
•Led to controversy, debate and eventually agreement.
Some key ethical questions were posed:
•What does it mean to be human in a digital era?
•How can we experience freedom and plurality in a
hyperconnected world?
•Is a public/private distinction still relevant?
•Who is responsible for digital actions in a world
where artificial intelligent artefacts become agents?

10. Happy Onlife Game
•European Commission
produced a game for
children (ages 8-12),
parents, teachers
•Raises awareness of the
risks and opportunities of
internet
•Promotes best online
practices
European Commission Happy Onlife Game for children https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-tools-
and-databases/happy-onlife-play-learn-about-online-safety_en
Happy Onlife booklet https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/7d67c1d1-0dcc-11e6-ba9a-
01aa75ed71a1

11. Happy Onlife Game
Four versions:
•Online
•Mobile
•Physical board game
•Do-it-yourself print
and cut kit
European Commission Happy Onlife Game for children https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-tools-
and-databases/happy-onlife-play-learn-about-online-safety_en
Happy Onlife booklet https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/7d67c1d1-0dcc-11e6-ba9a-
01aa75ed71a1

12. Find out more
Floridi, L., 2015. The onlife manifesto: Being human in a hyperconnected era. Springer Nature.
García del Dujo, Á. and Martín-Lucas, J., 2020. Towards ‘onlife’ education. How technology is forcing us to
rethink pedagogy. In Blended learning: Convergence between technology and pedagogy (pp. 1-19). Springer,
Cham.
Muñoz Rodríguez, J.M., Pessoa, T. and Martín-Lucas, J., 2020, October. The OnLife self: CONECT-ID.
Construction of Youth Identity in a Hyperconnected World. In Eighth International Conference on
Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (pp. 925-929).
Norberg, A., 2017. From blended learning to learning onlife: ICTs, time and access in higher education
(Doctoral dissertation, Umeå University).
Sánchez-Rojo, A., García del Dujo, Á., Muñoz-Rodríguez, J.M. and Dacosta, A., 2022. Grammars of “Onlife”
Identities: Educational Re-significations. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 41(1), pp.3-19.
Sánchez-Rojo, Alberto, and Judith Martín-Lucas. 2021 "ONLIFE SELFHOOD AND INTRINSIC CHARACTERISTICS
OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES: AN EDUCATIONAL APPROACH." In Ninth International Conference on
Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM'21), pp. 419-422. 2021.
Simon, J. and Ess, C., 2015. The ONLIFE initiative—A concept reengineering exercise. Philosophy &
Technology, 28(1), pp.157-162.
Wellner, G., 2019. Onlife Attention: Attention in the Digital Age. In Hyperconnectivity and Digital Reality (pp.
47-65). Springer, Cham.

13. The ONLIFE Project Partners