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The COVID-19 pandemic pushed education from schools to educational technologies at a pace and scale with no historical precedent. For hundreds of millions of students formal learning became fully dependent on technology - whether internet-connected digital devices, televisions or radios.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION Defining ed-tech The origins and rise of ed-tech Ed-tech and technology solutionism Why tragedy? Situating the disruption A Netflix moment for commercial ed-tech
Act 1: THE HOPE OF TECH SALVATION Reformatting schools with technology Cut the red tape and catapult education to a better future
Act 2: FROM PROMISES TO REALITY Most learners were left behind Inequalities were supercharged Learners engaged less, achieved less and left state-provisioned education Education was narrowed and impoverished Immersion in technology was unhealthy Environmental tolls multiplied with the ed-tech boom The private sector tightened its grip on public education Surveillance, control and machine processes marked the move to ed-tech
Inter-Act: LOOKING BACK TO SEE AHEAD School closures, the shift to remote learning and public health Did technology-mediated remote learning contribute to the prolongation of school closures? If not ed-tech, then what? Was COVID-19 an education crisis? Ed-tech finds a new rationale - resilience Is technology a pillar of educational resilience? If ed-tech is the answer, what is the question?
Act 3: NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ED-TECH Prioritize the best interests of students and teachers Reaffirm the primacy of in-person learning Strengthen digital connectivity, capacities and content Protect the right to education from shrinking ground
CONCLUSION Remembering the ed-tech experiences of the pandemic The arc of tragedy Reorienting and steering the digital transformation of education
About the author
Mark West is Education Specialist at UNESCO, where he researches and writes about the future of education with a special focus on technology. He advises governments-from Sudan to Norway and Indonesia to Colombia-about opportunities and risks for education in an age of accelerating digital change.
