The article I’m reviewing, Challenging the Neutrality Myth of EdTech was one of my Google Alerts this week and I was amazed at how it hit all the right notes as far as my interests are concerned. The author, Tim Stewart, focuses on the growing presence of data collection by educational technology, particularly on how student information is being collected. He also writes on how collected data is used to evaluate teachers and how ESL teachers are particularly affected by this.
It’s hard for me to remain unbiased since I work in IT, but I found this article to be a bit alarmist in nature. Stewart brings up that TESOL has become political in nature and how increases in technology use for TESOL have furthered that nature. He mentions the political history that comes with teaching ESL (colonization, globalization, etc.) and mentions that the developers of the technologies that are frequently used in education do not have the same values as those teaching it, which I thought were some interesting ideas that I had not considered.
Stewart then moved on to talking about data collection. Here is a direct quote from the article:
“We are not the customers; our lives are merely raw material. Our activities, emotions, and health are just the means to create algorithms that feed the networks. In short, the intrinsic value of a human life is being reduced to the data it produces. All this took place while we were distracted by the surface-level glitter of new technologies.”
I found this to be a pretty cynical and almost nihilistic opinion. I’m not going to say that I don’t value privacy, but I think there’s a growing trend of portraying any type of data collection as a Big Brother-esque bogeyman. We should care about our student’s privacy, but without any specific concerns provided, it seems like fear mongering.
On that topic, his next focus is on the claim that the higher ups of Silicon Valley tech companies send their children to schools that are “low tech” or don’t use technology. Since I’ve been working in a 1:1 environment for the past 7 years, I think I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has brought this exact story up, so I decided to follow his sources on this one. His citation on the claim that “...elite schools in Silicon Valley are decidedly low tech, using “chalkboards and No. 2 pencils”, was this article by Business Insider. The examples included are stories about Bill Gates implementing screen time when one of his children played a video game too much and not letting his kids have cell phones until they were 14, Steve Jobs limiting screen time at home, and “a number” of Silicon Valley schools like the Waldorf School who only use the aforementioned chalkboards and pencils. The tech CEOs limiting screen time sounds like them just being responsible parents, but this story always seems to be painted that they are hypocrites for creating and selling products they know are “bad for you”. That would be like if the owner of Dunkin Donuts was viewed negatively for not feeding donuts to his kids every day. Moderation is important in everything, why is ed tech any different?
Secondly, the Waldorf School examples are cited by that article as coming from the authors of the book “Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber”. I was mildly offended by the title (which is also pretty alarmist) and while I could not find any hard data to suggest what percentage of schools in that area truly follow that methodology, I’m not sure that I can trust that the authors of that book are polling the whole educational landscape of Silicon Valley since they want the anecdotes to fit their narrative.
While I’ve been pretty critical of this article, Stewart’s final point about algorithms being used to standardize grades and evaluate teachers is an important one. He points out that using standardized test scores as part of this is unfair to both ESL students and their teachers, which is completely understandable. I don’t think any educational evaluation should be left out of human hands, as there are too many unique situations and variables that need to be accounted for. Unfortunately (in my opinion), Stewart ends that paragraph with the following quote: “It is not inconceivable that keyword searches by teachers in the U.S. for “health insurance” or “salary” might lead to retribution.” I think that’s another overly dire and paranoid take. Administration, technology, and teachers should be working together to create the best environment for students and I think quotes like that paint IT and school administrators in an inappropriate light.
Overall, the article raises some interesting points and has made me see ESL teaching and the way educational data will be used in the future in a new light. However, I think the author’s attitude throughout displays a chip on his shoulder towards ed tech. I think what we both could agree on is that we need to learn how to use technology with ESL students safely and when appropriate.
Citations:
Akhtar, A., & Ward, M. (2020, May 15). Bill Gates and Steve Jobs raised their kids with limited tech - and it should have been a red flag about our own smartphone use. Business Insider. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/screen-time-limits-bill-gates-steve-jobs-red-flag-2017-10.
Stewart, T. (2021, October 6). Challenging the Neutrality Myth of Edtech. Language Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/2021/10/06/challenging-the-neutrality-myth-of-edtech/.
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