Theory of Virtuality Culture

The Evolution of Culture - Orality and Literacy Culture (Walter Ong) to Virtuality Culture (Dempsey):

(Timeline, Dempsey, 2014)

This is a draft (work in progress):

With help and guidance from my dissertation director, Gary Shank, I founded the Theory of Virtuality Culture (2014) after discovering that a framework did not exist to explain the shift in culture mediated by contemporary technologies. Although Walter Ong's orality, literacy, and secondary orality culture work is significant, it doesn't explain the gap in the theory that exists today. So in 2014, I created the Theory of Virtuality Culture to help explain the shift in contemporary culture that cannot be explained by orality or literacy-based cultural characteristics/theory. Mediated by contemporary technology, virtuality culture theory is based on the idea that human consciousness is just beginning a transformation through cultural evolution based on virtuality culture features (explained in my dissertation; see next section). Evidence of the emergence of virtuality culture as it evolves out of literacy culture through terms such as digital literacy, metaliteracy, postliteracy, etc., attempts to explain the literacizing of technology and the technologizing of literacy (see pages 34 - 44) This theory also includes three types of human presence that explain the ways that contemporary technologies (i.e. primary, secondary, and tertiary presence) help us connect to ourselves and one another. These are explained further in one of the sections below, particularly in the references. This theory first appeared in my dissertation in 2014 as a theoretical expansion of Walter Ong's (2002) orality and literacy culture framework.

Evolution of Culture Timeline:

Features of Virtuality Culture:

The features of virtuality culture were created as an expansion of Walter Ong's literacy and orality culture inventories of expression (see pages 10 - 26 for an explanation).:

Tertiary
Hypermediated
Recursive
Changeable Knowledge
Exteriorized and Interiorized Lifeworld
Robust Adaptability
Immersive and Participatory
Actualized
Contextual

When you consider the orality and literacy inventories of thought that Ong (1986) has previously outlined, those for virtuality look very different (p. 50 - 62).

*Here is a comparison of orality, literacy and virtuality inventories of thought and expression (an excerpt).

Human Presence & Technology:

The concept of presence is important in the study of virtuality culture, along with an explanation of mediated and unmediated consequences. There are three types of presence - primary, secondary, and tertiary and each one of those has additional types. These are explained on p. 63 - 67.

Selected Presentations:

Dempsey, J. C., Black, N., Fraga, L., Langran, E., Eguchi, A., George, S., Brunvand, S. (2024, March). AI explorations in teacher education: A hands-on AI workshop for faculty and leaders. SITE, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, July). Artificial intelligence and human presence: applying the Theory of Virtuality Culture to global digital communication. 19th Global Studies Conference. Galway, Ireland.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). AI in higher education: Strategy, culture, and capability. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). Teaching and learning in the age of AI: Policy, practice, and pedagogical integrity. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). Educating for Agency, Ethics, and Meaning in the Age of AI. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). AI in Business Administration Education: Strategy, Ethics, and Decision-Making. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). AI in Science and Engineering: Innovation, Integrity, and Human Oversight. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). Liberal Arts Education in an Algorithmic World: Exploring Power, Narrative, and Culture through AI. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. (2026, January). From Fluency to Judgment: Language Learning in the Age of AI. Al Akhawayn University.

Dempsey, J. C. & Norman, S. (2024). How AI can help support students with disabilities. International Council for Exceptional Children Conference.

Dempsey, J. C. (2024, January). Things to know about artificial intelligence as a future teacher. York County School of Technology.

Recent Presentations:

Dempsey, J. C. (2021, May). Expanding Walter Ong's orality and literacy culture framework through the evolution of virtuality culture. Culture Conference, Human Behaviour & Evolution Society (HBES), Scotland [virtual].

Dempsey, J. C. (2019, April). The Theory of Virtuality Culture and artificial intelligence. Technology Education Research Symposium (TERS), Online - Bloomsburg University.

Dempsey, J. C., Boyles, K. (2019, February). Virtuality culture and the northwestern Pennsylvania Google Expeditions. Co-Presenting at Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo. and Conference, Hershey, PA.

Paper awarded a presentation at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology Convention after receiving the PAECT Higher Education “Educational Technology Impact Award” for Best Journal Article published in PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 3, 1.

Dempsey_AECT_Poster.pptx

Poster presented at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology Convention, October 19, 2019.

Penn State Virtuality Culture presentation

Paper presented at Penn State University Behrend Digital Media Festival, Erie, PA.

Selected References and Further Reading:

Dempsey, J. C. (Forthcoming). Once Upon a Chatbot: Fairy Tales about Artificial Intelligence.

Dempsey, J. C., Blair-Black, N., Eguchu, A., Fraga, L., George, S., Blackwood, A., and Kasun, G. S., (2026). Integrating AI Competencies into Teacher Education Programs. The Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

Dempsey, J. C. (Forthcoming, 2026). The convergence of human creativity and generative AI: Creating AI prompts that generate novel, imaginative, and unconventional responses. PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 7, 1.

Dempsey, J. C. & Kosmiski, J. (Forthcoming, 2026). Virtuality culture and artificial intelligence in education. PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 6, 1.

Dempsey, J. C., Blair-Black, N., Brunwand, S., Eguchu, A., Fraga, L., George, S., Howard, N., and Langran, E. (2024). A framework for approaching AI education in educator preparation programs. The Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence.

Dempsey, J. C. & Kosmiski, J. (2025). Virtuality culture and artificial intelligence in education. PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 6, 1.

Dempsey, J. C. & O’Toole, J. (2024). Professional learning networks, technology self-efficacy, and the evolution of virtuality culture. PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 6, 1.

Dempsey, J. C., Black, N., Fraga, L., Langran, E., Eguchi, A., George, S., Brunvand, S. (2023, January). Higher education educator preparation programs and artificial intelligence. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) webinar.

Dempsey, J. C. (2023). What do we need to know about artificial intelligence as future teachers? University of Hartford, CT.

Dempsey, J C. (2019). The spirit of the times: Virtuality culture and technology-mediated human presence. PAECT: Technology Education Research Journal, 3, 1. PAECT 2019 "TERS (Technology Educational Research Symposium) Educational Technology Impact Award" See link for draft.

Dempsey, J. C. (2017, July). The Theory of Virtuality Culture and Technology-Mediated Human Presence (in Spector/Lockee's Learning, Design, and Technology: An International Compendium of Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy).

Dempsey, J. C. (2014). Virtualizing The Word: Expanding Walter Ong's Theory of Orality and Literacy through a Culture of Virtuality (open access dissertation - available online: https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1526011460.html?FMT=ABS ).

Ong, W. J. (2002/1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London, England, and New York, NY: Routledge.

Other presentations and publications available here.

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