The Logic of Ed-Tech

Three Critical Directions

Abstract

This paper provides a theoretical and conceptual analysis of educational technology (Ed-Tech) including its role in the administration and organization of schools, colleges, and universities; teachers’ pedagogical practices; and students’ learning. During and since the pandemic period, education has relied more heavily than ever on technological tools, products, and services—pedagogical innovations that require novel conceptual, theoretical, and critical perspectives for researchers to engage with. Thus, we employ the term Ed-Tech as a heuristic language to critically interrogate the ways by which the economic logic that underpins commercialized and commodified Ed-Tech continues to shape the sphere of education. This paper focuses on three interrelated concerns surrounding Ed-Tech: sales/privatization; solutions/pedagogy; and surveillance/privacy. A critical examination and discussion of each of these interconnected concepts and concerns reveal overt directions for where Ed-Tech is headed through the conceptualization of inertia, automation, and data. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the need for further empirical research and reflection that address current and future pedagogical practices in relation to the ethical dimensions of educational technologies.