The Biopolitics of EdTech

• In Event: New Strategies for Increased Teaching Effectiveness

Abstract

Forms of Educational Technology, which I define as private, corporatized technology purchased and implemented by schools for instructional purposes, should be understood as a form of biopolitics. This is because they serve to create populations of students and instructors and then manage them in ways that extract value for the company and impact how instructors view their role and what they are able to do in the classroom. I ultimately argue that, like a form of critical theory, understanding the forces impacting how we understand the educational world is crucial for our resisting their harmful effects.

Author

• Stefan Kehlenbach, University of California, Riverside