Distrusting Educational Technology Critical Questions for Changing Times

Distrusting Educational Technology critically explores the optimistic consensus that has arisen around the use of digital technology in education. Drawing on a variety of theoretical and empirical perspectives, this book shows how apparently neutral forms of educational technology have actually served to align educational provision and practices with neo-liberal values, thereby eroding the nature of education as a public good and moving it instead toward the individualistic tendencies of twenty-first century capitalism. Following a wide-ranging interrogation of the ideological dimensions of educational technology, this book examines in detail specific types of digital technology in use in education today, including virtual education, ‘open’ courses, digital games, and social media. It then concludes with specific recommendations for fairer forms of educational technology. An ideal read for anyone interested in the fast-changing nature of contemporary education, Distrusting Educational Technology comprises an ambitious and much-needed critique.

Preface and acknowledgement 1Why distrust educational technology? 2Understanding educational technology as ideology 3Distrusting ‘virtual’ technologies in education 4Distrusting ‘open’ technologies in education 5Distrusting ‘games’ technologies in education 6Distrusting ‘social’ technologies in education 7Educational technology – continuities, contradictions, and conflicts 8Educational technology – is there an alternative? References

Neil Selwyn is Professor of Education at Monash University, Australia.