After presentations from Mark, Sonia Livingstone and Ayça Atabey, everyone contributed to a nuanced discussion about technology and education: the need for cultural sensitivity, the over-investment into AI and overreliance on technology to fix systemic social issues. 

Mark’s presentation summarised UNESCO’s recent book, An Ed-Tech Tragedy?, which explores the problems with EdTech that are not often thought of, such as the assumption that home environments are safe, the need for digital services (such as Google) to access educational tools, and the expectation that countries possess the needed infrastructure to fully implement EdTech. He argued that although technology is seen as a progressive step – we must consider the compromises that children, families and education systems are making to implement and sustain such technology. 

Sonia presented the DFC’s work on EdTech showing that 1) EdTech companies collect excessive amounts of children’s data, 2) regulation and monitoring systems are not fit for purpose, and 3) schools face a ‘David and Goliath’ problem in managing the EdTech companies which increasingly ‘deliver’ education. The report, Problems with data governance in UK schools, illustrated that experts could not track specific data when collected by EdTech companies. Moreover, when interviewing data controllers in schools, the research found that staff were at times unaware of the scale of data processing and found negotiating compliance with data regulation as EdTech companies appeared powerful and opaque.  

Ayça presented her forthcoming DFC research which is assessing the child rights implications for GenAI in EdTech in the UK. Her emerging results suggested, for instance, that AI chatbots do not provide contextual or culturally sensitive information, potentially putting children at risk of harm. She also pointed at legislative gaps, which may disincentivise companies from making their platforms respect children’s rights to privacy and safety, despite recent international regulatory decisions. 

The subsequent discussion highlighted that: 

• Innovation is not restricted to digital companies – society could also come up with innovative solutions. 

• When technology has created problems such as addiction and reduced peer-to-peer support, we don’t need to look to more technology for answers. 

• This applies to the education context too: key issues that cannot be solved by AI-reliance are teacher shortages or curriculum limitations. 

• The fascination with AI is now reflected in funding bodies, with some organisations only giving money towards digital solutions. This is problematic when physical solutions, such as making schools cooler in hot climates, would prove more effective. 

• That said, there are emerging good examples of AI use in education, and these could be collated and shared. 

The DFC would like to thank all contributors for their discussion points and insights. Watch this space – we are now expanding our research in this area, with several new reports in the works. 

Report author: Marisa Lyons Longworth