Tag Archives: educational technology
Breaking open the black box of edtech brokers
Mathias Decuypere and Ben Williamson A new kind of organization has appeared on the education technology landscape. Education technology ‘brokers’ are organizations that operate between the commercial edtech industry and state schools, providing guidance and evidence on edtech procurement and … Continue reading
New financial actors and valuation platforms in education technology markets
Ben Williamson Prepared for the Education/Globalization/Marketization virtual workshop hosted by Malmo University, 9-10 December 2020 Investment in educational technologies has grown fast over the last ten years or so. Investors annually inject billions of dollars into edtech companies, helping fund … Continue reading
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Tagged educational technology, investment, platforms, venture capital
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Digital data and the post-pandemic university
Ben Williamson Prepared for the QAA Scotland Enhancement Themes 2020 conference on 3 November 2020 Digital data technologies are at the centre of many current controversies. From Airbnb driving up over-tourism and property prices, to Twitter taking measures to reduce … Continue reading
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Tagged artificial intelligence, covid19, data, edtech, educational technology, higher education
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Edtech index investing
Ben Williamson While schools were closed for much of the year, new market opportunities were opening up for education technology investors. The investment bank BMO Capital Markets predicted potential market growth early. ‘While we are uncomfortable citing “winners” in the coronavirus situation, … Continue reading
The social life of Artificial Intelligence in education
Ben Williamson Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the subject of both hype and horror in education. During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, AI in education (AIed) attracted serious investor interest, market speculation, and enthusiastic technofuturist predictions. At the same time, algorithms … Continue reading
The evolution of the global education industry during the pandemic
Ben Williamson & Anna Hogan Through the ‘pivot’ to ‘online learning’ and ‘emergency remote teaching’ during the Covid-19 emergency, educational technology (edtech) has become integral to education globally, with private sector and commercial organizations developing central roles in essential educational … Continue reading
Edtech, coronavirus, and commercialization in public education
Ben Williamson While the opening months of 2020 have been marked by huge disruptions to education at an international scale, some organizations have thrived during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the education markets consultancy HolonIQ, the first three months of … Continue reading
New pandemic edtech power networks
Ben Williamson Mass closures of schools and universities plus rapid switches to remote online teaching and learning around the world have empowered technology vendors and promoters to position themselves as frontline emergency response providers during the current coronavirus outbreak. In … Continue reading
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Tagged coronavirus, covid19, edtech, educational technology, global education industry, OECD, policy networks, UNESCO
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Automating mistrust
Ben Williamson Turnitin can now analyse students’ individual writing styles to tackle ‘contract cheating’. Image by Xavi The acquisition of plagiarism detection company Turnitin for US$1.75 billion, due to be completed later this year, demonstrates how higher education has become … Continue reading
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Tagged algorithmic governance, algorithms, ed-tech, educational technology, higher education, software, Turnitin, universities
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The tech elite is making a power-grab for public education
Ben Williamson Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are linking public education into their growing networks of activity and influence. Image by Steve Jurvetson In the same week that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced a major move into education provision, the FBI issued a … Continue reading
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Tagged amazon, ed-tech, educational technology, power, public education, schools, silicon valley
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code acts in education 