Digitalisation of Education

Digitalisation of education

The introduction of technology into education has never – alone – solved the problems that education faces. Yet processes of digitalisation have transformed education – and will continue to do so – in ways that are evolving, complex, and often seem to outstrip our ability to analyse them.

COVID-19 brought about catastrophic disruptions and new formations in teaching and learning under circumstances of global emergency, which accelerated the pace of this change. The pandemic also accelerated multiple “digital divides”. Despite resurgent interest in technology in education policy, planning and practice, as well as in research, many areas that are critical to understanding the digitalisation of education remain under-studied, and the evidence that does exist remains under-shared.

Our new publication Policy Insights: The Digitalisation of Education is now available. The multi-disciplinary collection presents profound but digestible insights gained from a year of expert consultations, focused on what education policy and practice can learn from cutting-edge research and evidence.

Policy Dialogues on the digitalisation of education

Our partnership with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Dr Koumbou Boly Barry, informed her 2022 report to the Human Rights Council: The impact of the digitalisation of education on the right to education.

In a series of Policy Dialogues, NORRAG convened experts from diverse disciplines to engage with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education to explore the challenges and opportunities that digitalisation poses for children and young people, nations and communities, and education systems. The series of expert consultations aimed to explore fresh perspectives and surface under-represented expertise, particularly from the Global South, to expand understandings of the issues at stake and, vitally, possible solutions and pathways for change.

Key themes:

• The role of technology in education
• Data, datafication and surveillance
• Privatisation and the digitalisation of education
• Diversity, digital divides and digital education
• Digital citizens or consumers?
• The health impacts of the digitalisation

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