Unforgetting Digital Exclusions: A Critical Framework for Inclusive EdTech Futures

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Examination of AI's Role in Education

Abstract

This paper explores how educational technology can reinforce or resist oppression for marginalized students. Drawing on critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970), decolonizing methodologies (Smith, 2012), and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), it synthesizes case studies and literature to examine how the digital divide, linguistic exclusion, and culturally unresponsive tools perpetuate inequity. Examples include AI tools that misinterpret linguistic diversity and OER projects addressing cost and representation. The paper proposes a framework for designing equitable educational technologies that center the voices and needs of underrepresented learners. By spotlighting participatory and inclusive practices, this conceptual work contributes to imagining futures where educational tools disrupt, rather than replicate, systemic barriers.

Author

• Elham Maleki, University of Nevada - Reno