About

Why do we need this project?

There is a lot of hope that using technology in schools can reduce inequalities for young people. However, we know very little about how technology is actually used for learning and teaching, the everyday realities for schools and learners, and if technology does make things fairer for all students or not.

In the context of new patterns of post-pandemic social and digital exclusion; an array of digital technologies that are embedded in school administration, pedagogy and practice; the rise of AI, including generative and large-scale language models such as ChatGPT; and the ever-increasing power of algorithmic digital technologies to shape young people’s relationships and identities, we need to understand how these changes impact the realities of teaching and learning.

What are we looking for?

We are gathering rich, ethnographic data about the ways technology is embedded in secondary school practices, and how this relates to ideas about equity and educational opportunities. We seek to understand:

• how varied digital technologies are used inside and outside the classroom
• how the use of such EdTech systems influences teacher-student relationships
• the inbuilt biases and underpinning values promoted by such technologies
• how access to EdTech and its uses varies across contexts and circumstances.

What will we do with our findings?

We have a strong impact agenda. We aim to hold participatory workshops with key stakeholders, to debate, and inform future equity-focused approaches to EdTech. Using insights from our ethnographic and engagement work, we develop a set of OER materials specifically for EdTech developers and data scientists working in education.