Lazaros V. Kali

research.
Currently completing a Master's thesis in Educational Technologies at Concordia University, his research examines how digital platforms are reshaping the role of educators as trusted intermediaries of knowledge. Centered on the concept of disintermediation, which refers to the gradual removal of traditional authorities from the process of accessing and validating information, the study explores how algorithmically curated media is transforming teaching, learning, and educational trust across Quebec.
Through in-depth qualitative interviews with high school educators across Quebec, the research investigates how teachers perceive a growing shift in students' relationships with knowledge, where social media, recommendation algorithms, artificial intelligence, and online personalities increasingly compete with schools as primary sources of information and authority. Rather than focusing solely on technological change, the project seeks to understand how educators are adapting their pedagogical practices in response to this evolving landscape and what challenges arise when institutional expertise is no longer automatically regarded as the most credible source of knowledge.
The study aims to generate practical insights for educators, school leaders, policymakers, and educational technology designers. Its findings may inform curriculum development, digital literacy initiatives, teacher professional development, and educational policies that strengthen critical thinking and trust in evidence-based knowledge. By documenting educators' lived experiences during this period of profound technological transformation, the research contributes to a broader conversation about the future of teaching, the evolving role of schools in an algorithmically mediated society, and how education can continue to foster intellectual autonomy, democratic participation, and informed civic engagement.