Technology giants, educational policy and a preliminary mapping of networks and channels of influence in a Norwegian context

Abstract

The article looks at the debate regarding the influence of the technology giants on educational policy. What strategies have existed on the part of the technology giants? Who have been the major actors within education? What kind of relations and networks have been established? The first part of the article focuses on relevant research internationally showing that the technology giants have taken the lead and that their objectives are to develop new long-term policy agendas. The development has been significantly intensified and to some extent changed during the pandemic. This has resulted in the emergence of new multisector coalitions and more complex networks which have potentially profound pedagogical implications. The second part accounts for a preliminary mapping of networks and channels of influence in a Norwegian context. Despite the differences between countries, political and educational systems, traditions and values, there are a number of the similarities in the field of educational technology. These include on a general level how the use of new technology is valued as a way of improving teaching and learning, but also how networks and relations are developed and function. The project that precedes the article is based on literature studies and inspired by network ethnographic approaches.

Perspective Chapter: Educational Technology under Scrutiny in Higher Education – A Framework for Balancing Environmental, Economic and Social Aspects in a Blended Design

“…Such a complex is said to pursue its own interests regardless of, and often at the expense of, the best interests of society and individuals. This development intensified during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in which new networks, coalitions and alliances were established and the commercialisation and privatisation of education increased [16].…”

“…The networks, coalitions and alliances of EdTech companies increase their influence on government and HE. An example of such an alliance is the collaboration in several projects between the Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education, an executive agency of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and the New Media Consortium (NMC) [16]. This consortium was founded in 1993 by a group of hardware manufacturers, software developers and publishers.…”

“…These yearly reports give NMC's view on future technology trends in educational environments. For many HE institutions, this is a valuable resource for their educational technology procurement decisions [16]. In addition, academic articles often use publications from the Horizon Reports as background information.…”

Datafizierung (in) der Bildung

“…Unter dem Schlagwort der »Global-Education-Industry« wurden beispielsweise verschiedene Arbeiten vorgelegt, die die Netzwerke unternehmerischer, unternehmensnaher und anderer intermediärer Akteure anhand von Vermessungspraktiken ausloten, analysieren und kritisieren. So finden sich unter anderem Arbeiten zum Stand in Deutschland (Förschler, 2018(Förschler, , 2021, Österreich (Hug & Madritsch, 2021) oder Norwegen (Haugsbakk, 2021), die explizit Educational Technologies als lukrativen Geschäftsbereich fokussieren. Allgemeine Fragen an das Bildungssystem richten Münch (2018) unter der Bezeichnung »Bildungsindustrieller Komplex« oder Hartmann (2015), der die Hierarchisierung des deutschen Hochschulsystems anhand von Exzellenzinitiativen und der Verteilung von Forschungsgeldern untersucht.…”