Automation, APIs and the distributed labour of platform pedagogies in Google Classroom

Assembling New Toolboxes of Methods and Theories for Innovative Critical Research on Educational Technology

“…In some cases, edtech research tends towards an 'engineering' vision of how to fix education with advanced technologies, as indicated by the emergence of discourses of 'learning engineering' or 'precision education' (Bartolomé, Rodriguez-Illera, & Lindín, 2018;Williamson, 2020). The production of learning science-based edtech effects evidence is also being elevated by new kinds of industry-led alliances and funders, and is not without its own politics (Ames, 2019;Perrotta, Gulson, Williamson, & Witzenberger, 2020).…”

“…The scale of their operations has grown substantially as they have become worldwide providers of digital infrastructure for schools, including in low and middle-income countries. This scaling-up of 'Big Tech' into schools was amply illustrated in 2020 by Google's claims to have reached well over 100 million student users across the planet, as national government ministries of education and transnational organizations alike supported the roll-out of platforms such as Google Classroom as online replacements for the physical classroom during school closures (Perrotta et al, 2020).…”

“…In some cases, edtech research tends towards an 'engineering' vision of how to fix education with advanced technologies, as indicated by the emergence of discourses of 'learning engineering' or 'precision education' (Bartolomé, Rodriguez-Illera, & Lindín, 2018;Williamson, 2020). The production of learning science-based edtech effects evidence is also being elevated by new kinds of industry-led alliances and funders, and is not without its own politics (Ames, 2019;Perrotta, Gulson, Williamson, & Witzenberger, 2020).The second concern is that specifically 'critical' edtech research may need to evolve fast in order to both interrogate contemporary shifts in edtech with adequate nuance and depth, and to develop constructive responses/proposals to the wider field of edtech researchespecially given recent experiences with online education (Bayne et al, 2020). Our aim is certainly not to set up a false sense of conflict between different branches of edtech research.…”

Editorial: Education in Europe and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Recent cases, like the case of the algorithm system used for student assessment in the UK, introduced biased evaluations, discriminating against students attending schools in disadvantaged areas in comparison to more affluent students (Williamson, 2021). Closer investigations in the working of digital platforms reveal how they shape education practice (Decuypere and Landri, 2020;Gorur and Dey, 2020;Hartong and Förschler, 2019;Perrotta et al, 2020). Far from being passive, they are active actors in the modification of educational forms.…”

Trazabilidad de los discursos sobre tecnología educativa: los caminos de la influencia

“…En ese contexto es un reto diferenciar las prioridades educativas de otras prioridades, y los mensajes que provienen de la industria no terminan de explicitar qué lado están (Munro, 2018;Verger et al, 2017;Watters, 2016). Esa escasa definición, o ese conflicto de intereses que parece no resuelto, ha sido señalado como educativa: los caminos de la influencia ~ 3 ~ uno de los mayores problemas a la hora de desentrañar la cuestión de cómo los DTE se materializan en la realidad educativa (Castañeda & Williamson, 2021;Honan, 2010;Perrotta et al, 2020;Regan & Khwaja, 2019).…”