Schools minister Lotta Edholm moves students off digital devices and on to books and handwriting, with teachers and experts debating the pros and cons

Education technology powered by artificial intelligence appears to make classrooms more equitable, but the tech may do more harm than good.

Four critical questions parents and educators should be asking

Technology is reshaping our increasingly interconnected world. The use of technology in education has been growing in recent years, and saw an immense expansion during the Covid-19 pandemic as school closures promoted a mass turn to online platforms. Technology in education - often described as EdTech - takes many forms.

At EdTech Hub, we’ve been reflecting on how coloniality is embedded in the work we do: from the colonial roots of the international development sector, to colonial practices embedded in research methods, to “core-to-periphery” design and deployment of EdTech interventions. We’ve just begun this journey, but in trying to embody one of our EdTech Hub values of ‘fearless and humble…

In light of fast-growing popular, political and professional discourses around AI in education, this article outlines five broad areas of contention that merit closer attention in future discussion and decision-making. These include: (1) taking care to focus on issues relating to 'actually existing' AI rather than the overselling of speculative AI technologies; (2) clearly foregrounding the limitations of AI in terms of modelling social contexts, and simulating human intelligence, reckoning, autonomy and emotions; (3) foregrounding the social harms associated with AI use; (4) acknowledging the value-driven nature of claims around AI; and (5) paying closer attention to the environmental and ecological sustainability of continued AI development and implementation. Thus, in contrast to popular notions of AI as a neutral tool, the argument is made for engaging with the ongoing use of AI in education as a political action that has varying impacts on different groups of people in various educational contexts.

Meta—the company formerly known as Facebook—is running a new TV ad showing a future in which college students slip on a lightweight VR headset to enter ...

Huge yikes in this story about school surveillance: schools sent teens home with chrome books pre-loaded with Gaggle spyware. Teens plugged their phones into their laptops to charge them. Gaggle sent administrators alerts when teens texted each other nudes https://t.co/SIX1Tdn5PV— Evan Greer (@evan_greer) August 3, 2022

As the post-Roe era underscores the risks of digital surveillance, a new survey shows that teens face increased monitoring from teachers—and police.

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and weak enforcement of data protection law are failing to protect millions of children from the normalisation of routine use of biometric data for everyday canteen and library transactions, and increasingly intrusive bodily surveillance in the classroom. Pupils in the UK are effectively guinea pigs in the use of emerging technology for companies from around the world, including facial recognition technology that has already been banned from schools in other countries.

The excellence and reputation of the UK higher education sector are recognised around the world. However, an attainment gap between students of different ethnicities exists at the vast majority of universities, and evidence suggests that these cannot be explained by a students’ background or prior qualifications.

Racism needs explicit discussion rather than ignoring it as a factor

Dear North Ayrshire Council, Please provide me with a copy of your DPIA in relation to the processing of biometric data (facial recognition) for the purpose of uniquely identifying children with regards to your recent email informing parents of new processing in relation to cashless catering. Yours faithfully, Katie Brewar

Ibrahim Hasan looks at the significant issues raised by the use of facial recognition in schools.

EdTech will be a front door to government, educators, companies, investors from Britain & globally. They forgot to ask if they could come in

Schools using facial recognition systems should consider less intrusive ways to let pupils pay for meals, the UK's data privacy watchdog has said.

The ESFA has now launched an investigation

The UK government ignored its own guidance and refused external help, resulting in an A level algorithm disaster that disproportionately impacted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. But what exactly went wrong and what are the implications?

Cambridge Assessment, which runs OCR, submitted the direct centre performance model chosen and developed by Ofqual

Covering privacy and civil liberties issues with the use of biometrics in schools

The use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) is likely to be one of the key areas where new technology clashes with data protection rights. On the one hand, FRT has a wide range of potential use and users, from law enforcement agencies and civil enforcement bodies, to even – according to a recent Financial Times report – schools providing lunches to pupils.

Advocates say they speed up queues, but privacy campaigners query whether they are necessary. Facial recognition computers have found an unlikely new niche: scanning the faces of thousands of British pupils in school canteens. On Monday, nine schools in North Ayrshire will start taking payments for school lunches by scanning the faces of pupils, claiming that the new system speeds up queues and is more Covid-secure than the card payments and fingerprint scanners they used previously.

Round-the-clock surveillance of students’ accounts raises tricky privacy concerns. And do they really help keep kids safe?

Government finally gets rid of pupil nationality and country of birth data years after controversial collection ceased