TechnologyEducationScienceSocial Sciences

Education Technology Society

Neil Selwyn

Casting a critical eye over the world of digital education, education futures and EdTech.

Join Neil Selwyn as he talks to experts from around the world committed to new ways of thinking about digital technology and education

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24 episodes
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Avg 20 min
English

Episodes 24

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S4 · E4
Thursday · 21 min
'Screen time' ... the unhelpful concept that won’t go away!
Despite being thoroughly debunked by academics, anxieties around the harmful effects of ‘screen time’ continue to be an inescapable part of debates around children and digital technology. We talk to Dr. Kate Mannell (Deakin University) about her new book ‘Screen time and the impossibility of modern parenting’. Recommended reading >>> Mannell, K. (2026). Screen time and the impossibility of modern parenting. Routledge
S4 · E3
October 15 · 18 min
The vulnerabilities of the digitised school
The past few years have seen growing pushback against the presence of digital technology in schools. Sara Mörtsell (Lund University) talks about her research around the vulnerabilities and fragilities of digital technology use in Swedish schools. Recommended reading >>> Kaun, A., Arnelid, M., Falk, P., Enlund, D., Johnson, E., Mörtsell, S., Sundin, O. & Stiernstedt, F. (2026). Digital vulnerabilities, Media, Culture & Society, 01634437261446790
S4 · E2
September 30 · 23 min
Is Estonia leading the world with school AI?
Estonia’s ‘AI Leap’ initiative is being praised as a world-leading attempt to integrate AI into schools. Emanuele Bardone (University of Tartu) talks about how the Estonian government has been able to take this approach … and why their efforts might not be easy to replicate in other countries. Recommended reading >>> Bardone, E. & Forsler, I. (2026). The Estonian AI leap: navigating uncertainty through the production of education futures, Learning, Media and Technology, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2026.2720813
S4 · E1
September 10 · 27 min
Audrey Watters talks about her book ‘Teaching Machines’ (repeat from 2020)
Audrey Watters is a legendary critical voice in the world of education and technology. We rewind back to 2020 when Audrey caught up with Neil Selwyn to discuss the release of her (now much-praised) book with MIT Press – ‘Teaching Machines: The History of Personalised Learning’. Recommended reading >>> Audrey Watters (2021). Teaching Machines: The History of Personalised Learning. MIT Press
S3 · E16
June 10 · 19 min
Learning analytics – what do students think?
Learning analytics dashboards and metrics are an increasing presence in higher education. We talk to Hannes Hautz (University of Innsbruck) about his research on students’ mixed reactions to learning analytics, and how we can ensure more equitable and reflective use of student data. Recommended reading >>> Hautz, H. & Lipp, S. (2026). Algorithmic governmentality and student subjectivities: a critical examination of learning analytics in higher education. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-17.
S3 · E15
May 21 · 15 min
Do schools need to be more careful when using social media?
Schools now make extensive use of social media for communication and self-promotion. We talk to Tiffani Apps (University of Wollongong) about the data justice implications of school social media feeds, and how rights-based approaches can help schools engage with platforms in less harmful ways. Recommended reading >>> Apps, T., Beckman, K., Pawlicka, N. & Kidson, P. (2025). The nature of connection: parents’ experiences with school social media. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-16.
S3 · E14
May 3 · 19 min
Does GenAI spell the death of the essay?
GenAI is changing the way that schools and universities think about student assessment. We talk to Thomas Corbin (Deakin University) about the future of the written essay in the era of AI, and how we need to rediscover the original spirit of essays as exploratory engagements with thinking. Recommended reading >>> Corbin, T., Walton, J., Bannister, P. & Deranty, J. (2026). On the essay in a time of GenAI. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 58(3):198-210
S3 · E13
April 20 · 16 min
Digitally empowered students?
How can students and teachers be supported to get the most out of living with digital tech? Prof. Louise Mifsud (Oslo Met) is leading a new project supporting students’ critical digital literacy. We talk about the need to foster students’ ‘digital empowerment’, and the challenge of carrying out digital literacy projects in school systems facing growing calls to get screens out of classrooms. Accompanying reference >>> Oslo Met ‘Empowered’ project
S3 · E12
March 26 · 19 min
Ed-tech as climate criminal?
The environmental harms associated with our tech use are becoming increasingly apparent ... so how should the ed-tech community be responding? Colm O’Neill (South East Technological University) talks about the need to rethink ed-tech in light of its environmental costs, and introduces the intriguing alternative of ‘perma-computing’. Accompanying reference >>> O’Neill, C. (2026). EdTech as climate criminal: Considering the excesses of the ITC sector, and Higher Education’s complicity. Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning.
S3 · E11
March 7 · 16 min
Ed-tech in times of Trump
Education and technology in the US is currently mired in the volatile politics of the second Trump administration. Dr. Morgan Anderson (University of Northern Iowa) reflects on the state of EdTech in the US in 2026, and highlights emerging issues that need our urgent attention. Accompanying reference >>> Anderson, M. (2022). Public education in the digital age: neoliberalism, EdTech, and the future of our schools. Routledge
S3 · E10
February 26 · 25 min
An ed-tech tragedy … looking back on the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant turning-point in the history of ed-tech. Mark West (UNESCO) argues that we should look back on COVID remote schooling as an ‘Ed-Tech tragedy’, and use our pandemic experiences to develop radically different visions of digital education. Accompanying reference >>> West, M. (2025). An Ed-Tech tragedy? Educational technologies and school closures in the time of COVID-19. Routledge
S3 · E9
February 11 · 18 min
The ethics of AI in education
There is growing talk about ‘AI ethics’ in education. We talk to Michał Wieczorek (University College Dublin) about how to think about tech ethics in a philosophically-grounded manner, and how much of the current push for AI in education is ethically questionable. Accompanying reference >>> Wieczorek, M., Hosseini, M., & Gordijn, B. (2025). Unpacking the ethics of using AI in primary and secondary education: a systematic literature review. AI and Ethics, 1-19.
S3 · E8
January 27 · 19 min
Agentic AI and education
Carlo Perrotta (University of Oxford) was researching GenAI in education long before it hit the headlines. We talk about the latest hype around ‘Agentic AI’ and whether this is genuinely a game-changer or simply a desperate attempt to sustain the GenAI hype bubble. Accompanying reference >>> Perrotta, C. (2024). Plug-and-play education: Knowledge and learning in the age of platforms and artificial intelligence. Routledge.
S3 · E7
January 9 · 15 min
Are we seeing a digital backlash in education?
Efforts are growing in many countries to get devices out of classrooms and push for a general ‘de-digitisation’ of education. Ingrid Forsler (Södertörn University) talks about recent developments in Sweden and how we can make sense of this growing turn against digital education. Accompanying reference >>> Forlser, I. et al. (2025). Hijacking the digital backlash in education. Postdigital Science & Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-025-00601-9
S3 · E6
Dec 5, 2025 · 25 min
Better AI in education … is regulation the answer?
We talk with legal expert Liane Colonna (Stockholm University) about the EU ‘AI Act’ and what it means for the use of AI in education. To what extent can we rely on regulation to enforce safer and more beneficial forms of AI use in education? Accompanying reference >>> Colonna, L. (2025). Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED): Towards More Effective Regulation. European Journal of Risk Regulation, doi:10.1017/err.2025.10039
S3 · E5
Nov 22, 2025 · 19 min
What values should be driving the EdTech of the future?
Professor Arathi Sriprakash (University of Oxford) wants us to reimagine edtech along radically different lines. What might digital education look like if it was based around principles of reparation, sovereignty, care and democratisation? Accompanying reference >>> Sriprakash, A., Williamson, B., Facer, K., Pykett, J. & Valladares Celis, C. (2025) Sociodigital futures of education: reparations, sovereignty, care, and democratisation, Oxford Review of Education, 51:4, 561-578
S3 · E4
Nov 8, 2025 · 19 min
Why using GenAI in education is ‘pedagogically irresponsible’
Philosopher Gene Flenady (Monash University) has strong reservations about the current push for GenAI into university teaching and learning. If we accept that ChatGPT is an ‘irresponsible bullshitter’ then why is it being welcomed into universities … and what can we do about it? Accompanying reference >>> Flenady, G. & Sparrow, R. (2025). Cut the bullshit: why GenAI systems are neither collaborators nor tutors. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-10.
S3 · E3
Oct 21, 2025 · 19 min
Fostering autonomy in the platformised classroom
Niels Kerssens (Utrecht University) joins us to talk about the concept of 'platformisation' that came out of Utecht led by Jose Van Dijck in the 2010s and how this is now coming to bear on the classrooms and schools of 2025. We also talk about Niels’ new concept of ‘digital autonomy innovators’ and the growing demand for more collaborative and non-corporate forms of ed-tech. Accompanying reference >>> Kerssens, N. & van Es, K. (2025). Fostering autonomy in the digital classroom. in Governing the digital society. (pp. 227-244). Amsterdam University Press.
S3 · E2
Oct 1, 2025 · 19 min
Should teachers use AI to write emails to parents?
AI tools are now being sold with the promise of doing all sorts of routine tasks for teachers. We talk to Brad Robinson (Texas State University) about one such tool – MagicSchool AI – and the growing temptation for teachers to let GenAI do their work for them. Accompanying reference >>> Robinson, B. & Leander, K. (2025). ‘I hope this email finds you well’: how synthetic affect circulates through MagicSchool AI. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-13
S3 · E1
Sep 11, 2025 · 23 min
Techno-solutionism in education
Why does education keep falling for techno-solutionism, despite the fact that technology does not seem to drastically improve education? Ezechiel Thibaud (The Education University of Hong Kong) guides us through the underpinning causes of techno-solutionism in education and stresses the need to better acknowledge the disappointments of digital education. Accompanying reference >>> Thibaud, E. (2025). Reflections on techno-solutionism in education: Manifestations and causes. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-12.

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