Digital education reading group: January 2023
This month, our digital education reading group discusses the ethical and moral considerations around EdTech. Curated by Hifzah Tariq.
EdTech is everywhere in education now, and we use plenty here at the University of London Worldwide. There is so much on offer, software that we think will make everyone’s life easier and better. But is that always the case? What sort of ethical issues are there that we need to consider? Does our position mean that we have more responsibility to question these ‘advancements’, or do we just need to do what’s best for the business?
Here are two readings that I think are interesting and good for context:
- Journal article: Williamson, B. (2022) Big EdTech, Learning, Media and Technology, 47:2, 157-162, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2022.2063888
- Blog piece: A Challenge to the Sector for an Evidence-Driven Future: How EdTech Can Be Used to Help Address the Global Learning Crisis – asks some interesting questions about when to engage with EdTech companies by listing some simple questions which have complex answers. It also starts with addressing a “global learning crisis”…definitely worth discussing.
Possible questions for the session:
- What EdTech tools has made life easier/better/more interesting? What has been implemented that has really helped students or teachers on our programmes?
- What hasn’t worked? Is there anything you tried but that didn’t quite reach the mark?
- Do you think there are any ethical or moral considerations when adopting EdTech software? Are these ever part of the decision-making process?
- Should we always follow the trend when it comes to EdTech?
Looking forward to catching up next week.
Hifzah
Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash