Governed by Edtech? Valuing Pedagogical Autonomy in a Platform Society

Abstract

In this essay, Niels Kerssens and José van Dijck discuss the implications of platformization on the key public value of pedagogical autonomy in K–12 education. They focus on two interconnected concerns: how the integration of education into a global digital infrastructure contests the institutional pedagogical autonomy of schools and how the integration of digital platforms with educational practices in classrooms challenges the professional pedagogical autonomy of teachers. The authors engage with the symposium contributions by Williamson, Gulson, Perrotta & Witzenberger on the Amazon infrastructure and by Pangrazio, Stornaiuolo, Nichols, Garcia & Philip on platform practices at the classroom level. With this dual focus, Kerssens and van Dijck explore how critical research in the emerging field of platform studies in education pertains to both the political-economic level of building educational platform infrastructures and the social-technical level of how teaching and learning are (re)shaped by digital platforms. The essay concludes with a brief discussion of recommendations for the future governance of edtech to serve the pedagogical interest of schools and teachers.

Platform Governance and Education Policy: Power and Politics in Emerging Edtech Ecologies

“…Platform providers regularly promise to address concerns related to accessibility, cost savings, data-driven decision-making, and college- and career-readiness as a strategy for embedding themselves and their product ecosystems into schools: for instance, massive open online courses (edX), online program managers (2U), subsidized hardware (Chromebooks), professional development programs (Google Certified Teachers), and free and low-cost software (Google Classroom). However, scholars have shown that, beneath their inclusive veneer, such practices can capitalize on the needs of schools, often in terms that serve the commercial interests of platform providers more than the long-term well-being of public education, or educators (e.g., Gulson & Witzenberger, 2022; Kerssens & van Dijck, 2022; McMillan Cottom, 2020; Smith et al, 2023; Williamson et al, 2022).…”

“…They couple physical devices (Chromebooks, iPads, Surfaces) with cloud-based syncing (Google Cloud, Apple iCloud, Microsoft Azure), which links educational suites (Google Workspace for Education, Apple for Education, Office 365 for Education) with data storage, identity management, single sign-on security, and device monitoring. The vertical integration of these components, then, effectively locks education systems not just into using one company’s products but also into selecting other products based on their compatibility with these systems (Kerssens & van Dijck, 2022). Perrotta et al (2020) argue that “compatibility” is technically constructed through application programming interfaces—conventions and standards that allow different platforms to integrate, or communicate, with one another.…”

Reflexões Sobre a Aplicação Da Inteligência Artificial Na Educação E Seus Impactos Para a Atuação Docente

“…Nesse aspecto, tem-se notado, nos últimos anos, um movimento internacional marcado pela presença de EdTechs, que são empresas de tecnologias voltadas exclusivamente para o setor educacional (Kerssens & van Dijck, 2022;Silva, 2022). Essas entidades, em muitos casos, têm recebido aporte de grandes conglomerados educacionais, presentes em todos os níveis de Educação, os quais são orientados por um viés econômico agressivo e fortemente pressionados pela geração de retornos aos seus acionistas.…”

Percepciones de las Familias sobre el Uso de Plataformas Digitales Comerciales en las Escuelas Públicas: Un Estudio sobre la Confianza y la Privacidad Digital

“…En este sentido, estas plataformas pueden ser desarrolladas por grandes corporaciones tecnológicas privadas, o también por entidades públicas (o privadas sin fines de lucro), aunque son las primeras las que se han implantado y consolidado más fuertemente en los sistemas escolares (Cobo y Rivera-Vargas, 2022;Frechette y Williams, 2015). En consecuencia, por un lado, estas corporaciones son cada vez más influyentes en el campo educativo y tienen una mayor capacidad para moldear la organización de los espacios y las formas de educar en los centros escolares (Cobo y Rivera-Vargas, 2023;Kerssens y Van Dijck, 2022). Y, por otro lado, dada su distribución y uso masivo en los sistemas educativos de todo el mundo, las plataformas digitales están siendo cada vez más cruciales a la hora de diseñar y ejecutar los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje (Frechette y Williams, 2015;Selwyn et al, 2020;Suárez et al, 2023).…”