Big Tech's Inculcation of Education

• In Event: Educating Techno-Skeptics: Critical Approaches to Educational Technology in a Dystopian World

Abstract

Technology companies have been driving technology decisions in P-12 schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs) with little regard to the short- and long-term implications on students, educators, and their communities (Klein, 2020). These positions are rarely discussed, much less interrogated, in the field of education and educational technology (Author 1 et al., 2020; Author 2 et al., 2021). In this paper, we will examine the ways technology companies influence the approaches of technology in schools, engaging in practices which commodify students, their data, and learning.

While technology advocates have consistently encouraged technology use in schools for decades, the technology being integrated is almost always crafted by private corporations who profit from the push for increased technology use. P-12 schools and IHEs increasingly purchase products and services sold by the major players in technology (often referred to as big tech) like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The COVID-19 global pandemic and the move to emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) amplified the role of Big Tech in education (Hodges, et al., 2020; Author, 2020a; 2020b). Regardless of their way into the market, these companies benefit from an educational dynamic that consistently underfunds public education but demands increased technology to prepare the workers of the future.

Technology companies often offer low-cost solutions (e.g. free or inexpensive video conferencing, collaborative learning tools, online video journaling) in exchange for data and the potential for future product loyalty (Klein, 2020). However, ceding the power of educational choices to for-profit corporations has a variety of negative consequences. Children become a commodity first, and the public good of education is pushed down the list of priorities. For big tech, indoctrinating students early into a software or hardware encourages students to become customers for life. Further, companies begin to gather data on students in order to sell goods and services back to the students and their families (Zuboff, 2019).

Beyond controlling what technology students use, the design of the technology often dictates pedagogical practices (Moeller, 2020), removing or limiting teachers’ choices about how and what to teach and normalizing surveillance as pedagogy. The proliferation of surveillance technologies leads not only to proctoring tests, but also monitoring the devices, technologies, and “engagement” of students. These tools raise myriad alarms including how they cultivate carceral pedagogy (Swauger, 2021), how they police student bodies and time (Silverman et al., 2021), and, in the case of ERTL, shift the burden of monitoring from the state to the family (Author, 2021). Additionally, when schools opt to use big tech products and services, educators often have no choice in the use of these products and are rarely prepared to critically assess and question potential negative outcomes from the tools they use with students.

We owe it to our students to significantly shift and continue to question the role and influence of technology companies on education. The 2022 meeting will challenge us to take up this work collectively, working and thinking together in new ways, and building new pathways towards the future of education.

Authors

• Marie K. Heath, Loyola University Maryland

• Sumreen Asim, Indiana University - Southeast

• Jessa Henderson, The George Washington University

• Natalie B. Milman, The George Washington University