Louise Couceiro
In the opening chapter of Learning Futures: Education, Technology and Social Change (2011), Keri Facer writes: ‘educational institutions cannot be considered natural and unchanging phenomena like the cycles of the moon or the movements of the sun; they have not always been this way and they will not always be this way’ (p. 17). Indeed, although the school year always returns with dependable regularity – its exam seasons, sports days, parents’ evenings, and holiday periods woven seamlessly into the cadence of the academic calendar – education itself does not unfold according to celestial cycles. Its future is neither fixed nor technologically inevitable, it is determined by the decisions and actions we take together.
It was in this spirit of collective action that we designed a series of participatory workshops to bring teachers, EdTech developers, academics, and policymakers into conversation about the design and use of technologies in secondary schools. Working alongside partners at the University of Bristol, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Edinburgh, we engaged with 62 participants including representatives from 11 EdTech companies, 6 universities, 36 schools, and 3 government organisations. Bringing these diverse stakeholder groups together created a shared space for learning, dialogue, and the co‑production of insights to inform more equitable approaches to EdTech, supporting wider efforts to cultivate shared responsibility for educational improvement (Moss, 2024).
Reflecting on the present
Opportunities and challenges
Across the workshops, participants highlighted a range of opportunities afforded by technologies, including the use of AI for administrative activities, with one teacher noting that although AI does not necessarily save time, it does save “mental energy” when used for simple, repetitive tasks. One EdTech developer described a platform they were building to support administration related to SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) provision. The platform can take notes during meetings and generate documents outlining targets, making it easier to keep information updated and consistent. Teachers at the table responded positively, explaining that this type of technology would allow them to access critical information quickly and to be fully present in meetings with parents/carers and other professionals.
Participants also noted the ways technology can support learning in the classroom, for example, by helping bring abstract concepts to life or by connecting lessons to the wider world. For example, a science teacher described using screen‑casting from an iPad to the whiteboard to make practical experiments visible to everyone. Many also spoke about the value of certain assistive technologies for supporting students with SEND and EAL (English as an additional language). Teachers described students using laptops equipped with translation software, colour‑overlay tools, screen readers, speech‑to‑text and read‑aloud functions. Such technologies were viewed as opening up learning opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to access, enabling students to engage more independently and confidently with classroom activities.
Alongside these opportunities, participants drew attention to some of the challenges they have experienced, including difficulties with procurement and the limited availability of robust evidence, as well as the significant time and training required to implement new technologies effectively. Concerns about AI use and academic integrity also featured prominently, underscoring the complex terrain schools must navigate as they make decisions about purchasing and using educational technologies.
Professional practice
The workshops also generated new insights that extended the project’s understanding of how technology is reshaping professional practice. Some teachers voiced concerns about early‑career teachers becoming overly reliant on AI technologies, particularly for lesson planning or resource creation. Such reliance, they argued, not only risks inaccuracies in teaching, but may inhibit teachers’ own development of foundational pedagogic and subject knowledge. These discussions pointed to a need for teacher education to engage more seriously with technology, and with the pedagogical and ethical considerations that accompany its use.
Relationships in the classroom
Concerns about technology’s influence extended beyond professional practice to the relational dimensions of classroom life. While the importance of human-centred relationships is evident across our ethnographic data, it was particularly palpable in the workshops, where participants voiced strong concerns about the ways technologies risk eroding the human dimensions of classroom life. Several teachers reflected on how technologies can displace the interpersonal encounters that many regard as central to teaching and learning, raising deeper questions about whether the growing “insertion of EdTech into schools” risks drawing students away from forms of interaction that are pedagogically meaningful and developmentally important.
Locally driven EdTech initiatives
At the same time, participants highlighted the promise of locally driven EdTech initiatives as an alternative to the dominance of commercial EdTech. For example, one local authority in Scotland was developing an application that allowed teachers to generate short stories and accompanying literacy activities tailored to their own classes, using details they entered themselves. Indeed, several participants expressed frustration that too many decisions about technology in schools are shaped by corporate interests rather than educational priorities, noting, for example, the presence of advertising within widely used platforms. This reinforced a broader desire for technologies that are shaped by, and responsive to, local priorities and school level contexts rather than external commercial drivers.
Looking to the future
In addition to reflecting on current practices, participants also collaborated to design products aimed at addressing some of the challenges they had discussed. Their ideas included a technology to help mitigate ‘lost learning’ and to support students with low attendance; a piece of software to highlight connections between subjects to strengthen interdisciplinary learning; a product that could keep curriculum content relevant and engaging; and a platform to enhance communication not only among teachers, students, and parents or carers, but also across wider multi‑agency teams such as social workers, educational psychologists, and speech and language therapists.
Teacher expertise and pedagogic priorities
Despite the diversity of ideas, several unifying principles emerged across the proposed technologies. Foremost was the conviction that teacher expertise must remain at the heart of any digital intervention. Participants stressed that while technology might support some tasks such as lesson preparation, it cannot replace the professional judgement that shapes effective teaching. As one participant noted, it is ultimately “the teacher who figures out the uniqueness of their classroom and their students”. Relatedly, participants argued that the future of EdTech must be grounded in pedagogy rather than driven by technological novelty. Many felt that current developments place disproportionate emphasis on the technology itself, with insufficient attention to how it might meaningfully support pedagogic objectives.
Ensuring student safety
A further principle concerned the safety and appropriateness of technologies used directly by students. Participants were particularly mindful that if EdTech is to benefit the most disadvantaged learners, it must do so in ways that protect them from additional risks. This includes, for example, careful scrutiny of how student data is used. While data can be valuable for identifying patterns in students’ learning and engagement, participants emphasised the need for thoughtful consideration of what data is being collected, by whom, whether it is genuinely necessary, who has access to it, how securely it is stored, and whether appropriate consent has been sought. Ensuring that these safeguards are in place was seen as essential to preventing technology from inadvertently exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.
A collective approach to equitable EdTech futures
Taken together, these principles point to the critical question at the heart of these workshop: what does it mean to build future equity-focused approaches to EdTech? As one participant observed, although evidence on the impact of EdTech remains limited, debates can be polarised, resourcing remains uneven, and training opportunities for teachers are often inadequate, the rapid acceleration of EdTech adoption since the pandemic (Williamson & Hogan, 2020) has at least reinvigorated discussion. For them, this renewed attention has helped to “disrupt stagnant and ineffective practices,” creating space for more innovative – and more equitable – ideas to take root. In this sense, the workshops underscored that equity will not emerge from technology alone, but from the collective work of educators, policymakers, researchers, and industry partners.
These workshops have also informed the next stage of our work. Building on our systematic review of academic and policy literature, the extensive ethnographic data we have gathered, our research with EdTech developers, the insights generated through interviews with teachers in Wales, and the discussions emerging through these participatory workshops, we are now developing a suite of Open Educational Resources for use across the sector. Our aim is for these materials to support all stakeholders in shaping future equity‑focused approaches to EdTech, and to help sustain debate and critical reflection beyond the life of the project.
References
Facer, K. (2011). Learning Futures: Education, Technology and Social Change. Routledge.
Moss, G. (2024). Working across the divides between policy, research and practice. ESRC Education Research Programme (ERP): Knowledge Exchange in Education. Briefing Note 1. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/education-research-programme/erp-briefing-notes/knowledge-exchange-education-briefing-note-1-working-across-divide
Williamson, B., and Hogan, A. (2020). Commercialisation and privatisation in/of education in the context of Covid-19. Education International. Available at: https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/25251:commercialisation-and-privatisation-inof-education-in-the-context-of-covid-19
Funding acknowledgement
This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Photo by freepik.com.