{"data":{"ID":184,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1351095663,"CreatorID":62,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"The Politics of Ed-Tech","Handle":"Ed-Tech_and_Ed_Reform","ShortDescription":"We have moved beyond a world where we can simply be cheerleaders for education technology. It isn\u2019t just that the stakes are high for pedagogy. They\u2019re high politically and professionally. What are the connections between ed-tech and education reform, between technology, profits and the privatization of education?","Description":"\u201cTechnology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor decades now, many tech-savvy educators have argued that increased adoption of computers and other technologies in the classroom would help unlock problem solving skills, foster networked communication, and connect students and classes to the rest of the world beyond the physical restrictions of brick and mortar or the printed pages of a textbook \u2014 the whole \u201c21st century skill\u201d argument and more.  \r\n\r\nBut education technology is not necessarily built or implemented with progressive education in mind. Technology can just as easily reinforce, if not further, a world of standardized test-taking, Indeed, it\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that there\u2019s a significant amount of ed-tech \u2014 investors, philanthropic organizations, non-profits, politicians, and corporations \u2014 that is keen to privatize if not profit from education.\r\n\r\nThis session will explore these connections \u2014 connections between ed-tech and ALEC, for example \u2014 as well as strategies for responding.\r\n\r\nBecause the question no longer simply \u201chow do we implement technology effectively\u201d?  How do we navigate this world where technologies \u2014 education and otherwise \u2014 are becoming increasingly ubiquitous but may also be increasingly pedagogically, politically and professionally dangerous?","Link":[],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"Short presentation, followed by a discussion of how to respond. Participants will work on a wiki (or collaborative doc). Topics to explore include: how to make smart decisions as ed-tech users and consomers, how to use ed-tech to subvert the system.","Presenter":["Audrey Watters"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Hack Education"],"PresenterEmail":["audrey.watters@gmail.com"],"ScheduleSlotID":14,"ScheduleLocationID":9,"SubmitterID":62,"AdditionalComments":null,"LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":2}}