2022 saw a flurry of reports that the Danish Data Protection Agency was ordering schools to stop using Google products over the tech firm’s misuse of students’ personal data. We talk to Emilie Mørch Groth (Aarhus University) to see what has happened since, what this controversy tells us about the digital dependency of the modern welfare state, and the complexities of pushing back against Big Tech corporations. Accompanying reference >>> Morgan Meaker (2022). A Danish city built Google into its schools—then banned it. Wired, 23rd September, https://www.wired.com/story/denmark-google-schools-data/
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19:39
The digital transformation of higher education … for better and for worse
On the face of it, digital technologies are now integral to university teaching and learning. But to what extent have things actually changed … and are these changes wholly positive? Cathrine Tømte (University of Agder) talks about the impacts of digitisation on Norwegian universities, and why teachers and students should perhaps be joining forces to push for radically different technologies. Accompanying reference >>> Rómulo Pinheiro, Cathrine Tømte, Linda Barman, Lise Degn & Lars Geschwind (2023) Digital Transformations in Nordic Higher Education. Springer [open access]
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15:55
The cruel optimism of EdTech
Platforms are now an almost ubiquitous feature of schools. We talk with Lucas Cone (University of Copenhagen) about his work around teachers’ everyday engagements with platforms – in particular the benefits of using affect theory to make sense of teachers’ affiliations and relationships with these clearly problematic technologies. Accompanying reference >>> Lucas Cone (2024) Subscribing school: digital platforms, affective attachments, and cruel optimism in a Danish public primary school, Critical Studies in Education, 65(3):294-311, DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2023.2269425
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23:05
What is ‘critical’ in critical studies of edtech?
There is growing interest in critical studies of education and technology. But what does it mean to be ‘critical’ of edtech, and how can this work genuinely make a difference in the world? Felicitas Macgilchrist (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) talks about the need to look beyond claims of transformation and novelty, drawing attention to marginalised forms of edtech, and the power of rageful hope. Accompanying reference >>> Macgilchrist, F. (2021). What is ‘critical’ in critical studies of edtech? Learning, Media and Technology 46(3):243–249 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1958843
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15:15
What do ed-tech policymakers want from academic research?
Academics are increasingly looking to make an impact on policymakers, but critical ed-tech research often seems to fall on deaf ears. In this episode Dr. Cristóbal Cobo – currently a senior ed-tech specialist at a major international organization – talks about the types of evidence that get most attention in policy circles, and some approaches that might help critical researchers get their messages through. Accompanying reference >>> Cristóbal Cobo (2019). "I Accept The Terms And Conditions: Uses And Abuses Of Digital Technologies” [PDF book]
Casting a critical eye over the world of digital education, education futures and EdTech. Join Neil Selwyn as he talks to experts from around the world committed to new ways of thinking about digital technology and education
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