EdTech and the construction of legitimacy with Dan Clark

Daniel Clark is the Head of Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Kent and a PhD researcher at Lancaster University. In this talk, Daniel draws upon his professional experiences and applies a critical lens to the emergent rhetoric of EdTech in post-pandemic HE. Daniel discusses his recent paper; a critical discourse analysis of sector-orientated literature published in response to the pandemic. Daniel argues that whilst technology may have been the ‘saviour’ of HE from the immediate challenges of the pandemic, the opportunistic dialogue that emerged has problematically imbued debate with notions of the pandemic as a catalyst for transformation, opening the door to unprecedented levels of investment into a pervasive and data-driven paradigm of EdTech. Daniel argues that the rhetoric of EdTech is mediatory of neoliberal, libertarian, and consumerist ideologies, and that the portrayal of technology as a wholly beneficial enterprise obscures issues of privacy, ethics, and structural inequality.

Talking to Daniel, is Dr Janja Komljenovic, a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University and the Director of CHERE@LU.