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SC: Digital Wellbeing

PART I — FORESIGHT SNAPSHOT  |  SC: Digital Wellbeing  |  Fixed Time-Stamped Synthesis


2026 SC: Digital Wellbeing

Card Type

Societal Challenge

Series

Immersive Futures Guild — Vision 2035

Layer

1 — Atomic Foresight Object

Status

Active

Confidence

Medium

Workshop

Circle of Scholars — January 2026

Facilitator

Circle of Scholars Workshop Team

Tags

wellbeing  |  mental-health  |  design-ethics  |  layer1  |  sc

Tally.so Form

https://tally.so/r/ilrn-if-sc-dw-2026


The proliferation of screen-mediated, immersive, and always-on digital environments raises significant questions about cognitive load, attention regulation, social development, and mental health — particularly for children, adolescents, and neurodivergent learners. Immersive learning systems must be designed with awareness of these dynamics rather than assuming that engagement metrics are equivalent to wellbeing indicators.

Key Drivers / Contributing Conditions:

  • Youth mental health research documenting screen-time effects

  • Attention economy critique applied to educational technology

  • Emerging evidence on XR-specific side effects including cybersickness and social isolation

  • Institutional and parental demand for digital wellness frameworks

Educational and Design Implications:

  • Design requirements for attention-safe and load-aware XR

  • Research needs in XR-specific wellbeing and recovery

  • Risk of engagement optimization displacing wellbeing considerations

Tensions Carried Forward to Part II:

  • Where is the design boundary between productive immersive challenge and harmful cognitive overload?

  • Can wellbeing be meaningfully measured in immersive learning contexts with current tools?

Linked Scenarios / Strands: See cross-links above

Ways of Knowing: Tree  ·  Garden  ·  Lantern


PART II — COMMUNITY EVIDENCE & DIALOGUE TRACK  |  SC: Digital Wellbeing  |  H2 2026 — Living


T

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION FORM  —  SC: Digital Wellbeing

Submit case examples, methodological challenges, cultural perspectives, and proposed evidence criteria via: https://tally.so/r/ilrn-if-sc-dw-2026


Part II — Scope and Instructions

This section collects community responses, case examples, and challenges to the Part I foresight snapshot above.

It opens July 1, 2026 and undergoes synthesis review in September 2026, November 2026, and January 2027.

Contributions are submitted via the Tally.so form above and appear in the registers below after editorial review.

The Part I text is not modified in response to Part II contributions; it is versioned at the Annual Handoff review.

Contribution categories:  Case Example  |  Methodological Challenge  |  Cultural/Community Perspective  |  Proposed Evidence Criterion

Ways of Knowing accepted:  Tree (evidence)  |  Garden (practice)  |  Lantern (futures)


Tensions Open for Community Response:

  • Where is the design boundary between productive immersive challenge and harmful cognitive overload?

  • Can wellbeing be meaningfully measured in immersive learning contexts with current tools?


Contributor / Date

Category

Way of Knowing

Contribution Summary

[ Awaiting contributions — form opens July 1, 2026 ]




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