Better Ed-Tech with Professor Neil Selwyn
The University of Exeter invite you to attend the School of Education Lecture Series with Professor Neil Selwyn, Better Ed-Tech – why we need to develop forms of Ed-Tech that are better for people, better for communities & better for the planet.
The webinar takes place on Tue, 7 February 2023, 09:00 – 11:00 at University of Exeter – School of Education St Luke’s Campus Exeter EX1 1TE United Kingdom.
Better Ed-Tech
It is becoming increasingly evident that the mass application of digital technologies in education is turning out to be far more problematic (and far less beneficial) than we were led to believe. Students and teachers are now dependent on digital systems, software and devices that are reinforcing some of the worst aspects of contemporary institutionalised education – standardisation of practice, continuous monitoring and surveillance, inflexible managerialism, and the increasing corporate capture of public education. At the same time, these digital technologies seem to be exacerbating social inequalities, and working to disadvantage the already disadvantaged. Perhaps most seriously, it is beginning to be realised that the mass production, consumption and disposal of digital technologies comes at an increasingly unacceptable environmental cost.
All told, it seems sensible to contend that current forms of EdTech are neither environmentally nor socially sustainable in the medium to long term. In this spirit, Neil Selwyn argues that we need to begin to think radically differently about possible futures of education and technology in light of impending climate breakdown and eco-compromised conditions. In particular, he will go through a number of different ways in which new approaches toward EdTech might be developed that make dramatically reduced planetary demands, while also genuinely advantaging the disadvantaged. This presentation will set out to convince you that something different has to be done in the world of EdTech… the most pressing question is how radical we are prepared to be!
