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Few people have asked what's the problem and what's the solution to big tech involvement in HE.
Problems first: https://twitter.com/BenPatrickWill/status/1327387541193043968
Problems first: https://twitter.com/BenPatrickWill/status/1327387541193043968
Problem 1: Tendency to construct HE as broken. An old trick, going back to the 80s at least. The political ideal of educating students for the knowledge economy may not have worked out. Educating for high status knowledge jobs may not be realistic: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-global-auction-9780199731688?cc=gb&lang=en&
Problem 2: Algorithmic thinking. Why assume algorithms can "personalise" or even assess students better than teachers? Algorithms have to be "trained". Historic datasets used for this are shaped by social structural factors.
Problem 3: Political economy. Edtech is now very close to policy. Edtech strategies to build the edtech sector etc. Edtech to deliver policy. Edtech *is* policy. But empirically speaking how did the tech industry gain this political power? https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2019.1672724
Problem 4: Maybe no one wants it. Education is the basis of democracy. Cultivates capacity for independent thought. And criticality. Maybe software that closes off options for preferred, recommended personalised learning pathways is antithetical to that central aim of higher ed?
Solutions?
Solution 1: Avoid edtech solutionism. Educational probs cannot all be solved with tech. Maybe some can. Be educationally led. Not tech led.
Solution 1: Avoid edtech solutionism. Educational probs cannot all be solved with tech. Maybe some can. Be educationally led. Not tech led.
Solution 2: Question if all that student data collection is necessary. After the school exams fiasco, the media and maybe the law are going to be coming to check on us. What automated inequalities are being enforced by tech in education?
Solution 3: Create data and analytics systems that start from the perspectives of the students and staff affected. Don't just import the customer engagement and microtargeting systems of big tech.
Solution 4: Develop credible, education-led ethics frameworks, drawing on legal expertise too, that challenge tick-box ethics-washing industry frameworks and fully enforce students' rights.
Solution 5: Someone form a group to look at data trusts and data commons etc solutions, so any data about students collected by private companies can be analysed by the sector itself.
Solution 7: Education sector workers, in schools, colleges or universities, be confident as educational professionals. You know your students. If tech works for you, great, but let's ensure it works for education, not just for tech.
I presume it goes without saying these are just ideas for discussion. But tech involvement in education at all sectors *demands* our attention.
Missing Solution 6: Reclaim the idea that a higher education is for the social and public good, and define the public good of HE for persons and society.
This is about stating the purpose of HE beyond employability and measurability.
https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1725
This is about stating the purpose of HE beyond employability and measurability.
https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1725
