The EdTech Backlash Is Here, and It's Just Getting Started
2026-05-24 06:50 UTC
cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/38188482
Tech vendors promised personalized, frictionless learning. What American schools got instead was mind-numbing, data-hungry junk software that devalues teachers and shortchanges students. A growing movement, led by alarmed parents, is saying enough.
Technology’s allure is always future oriented: Personal computing was going to supercharge productivity; social media and smartphones would strengthen interpersonal connections; and now AI will streamline the world of work. And for three-quarters of a century, education technology vendors have promised to optimize student learning and eliminate the busywork of teaching. But as Charles Logan, T. Philip Nichols, and Antero Garcia recently argued in Kappan, “the future they’re selling has not arrived — and perhaps it never will. But de-skilling, surveillance, and extraction — all of that is happening now, in our classrooms, today.”
Replies (5)
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@oce@jlai.lu 2026-05-24 08:05
Is there any other useful edtech than the FOSS app Anki?
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@RoddyStiggs@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-05-24 10:40
ABOUT FUCKING TIME
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@nbsp@programming.dev 2026-05-24 11:22
all downhill from maths invaders archive.org/details/MATHSINV_zip
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@Cherry@piefed.social 2026-05-24 10:39
Like healthcare, education and tech should be a good pairing but money is always driving the tech, which leverages the learner for profit. - Money should not be in healthcare, education and of course other sectors. There are some good uses, assistive tech, Moocs etc but anything commercial is predatory. Khan sold out years ago with the app and gamification.
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@e_chao@lemmy.world 2026-05-24 11:54
Kolibri is dope