Teaching methods are constantly evolving, if only through the integration of new technologies. They also evolve according to the specificities of the audiences to be trained. Our students, aged between 18 and 23, were born with the Internet and new technologies. Generation Z has specific characteristics, especially a tenuous link with high-tech and an appetence for zapping. In particular, we observe a strong disaffection with traditional top-down information. Another characteristic of Generation Z is a possible disconnection with nature. Even if they were alerted to environmental challenges at an early age, they are not ready to give up their lifestyles and comforts. The concept of low-tech, which promotes responsible technology, represents an interesting alternative. However, this uncomplicated, sometimes old-fashioned technology may be seen as the opposite of high-tech. This raises the question of how to teach the concept of low-tech, and how to get Generation Z students to embrace it.
It's important to put the student at the heart of the system, and above all to make him or her an active participant in the learning process. One solution is to mobilize the appropriation of concepts taught through photolanguage tools, which are gamification tools. Derived from the sociology of uses, appropriation enables us to consider the active role of players, notably through their creativity. The aim is to study the representations that players construct about their practices. This pedagogical method is based on raising awareness and deepening consciousness, which seems to us to be perfectly in line with low-tech teaching.

While photolanguage is widely used in a medical context, with children or teenagers, as a therapeutic tool or to raise awareness of addictive behaviors, our work stands out for its use with higher education students. L3 business and management and Master 1 marketing students took part in the study. A total of fifteen photolanguages were carried out in groups of 2 to 5 people between January and March 2025.

The proposed learning methodology is divided into four phases:
1. at the start of the session, a questionnaire is used to assess the students' knowledge of low-tech;
2. the teacher defines low-tech, outlines its specific features and provides illustrations;
3. the students are invited to create a photolanguage (in groups) to represent what low-tech means to them;
4. finally, each group performs an oral presentation of the photolanguage (in front of all the students), encouraging them to verbalize and explain their approach.

The results confirm that the students have appropriated the concept. The elements present in the photolanguages are consistent with the concept and the main characteristics of low-tech. However, the appropriation of the concept is specific to each group, insofar as the photolanguages highlight different approaches that respect the principles of otherness in learning. It's also interesting to note that the students reused the concept a few weeks later as part of another lesson (linked to retail), proof that the appropriation was successful.

This method of appropriation thus seems to meet the expectations of our students, who suffer from a low level of concentration and a need to be active in order to get involved in the tasks proposed. Besides the use of high-tech and generative AI, photolanguage has its place in 21st-century teaching methods.

Keywords: Photolanguage, appropriation, education, sustainability.