Cruel optimism in edtech: when the digital data practices of educational technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity

Author
Abstract

As digital data become increasingly central to education, hopes for educational equity are pinned more strongly on educational technology providers. This paper examines the data practices of edtech providers who are not simply making token gestures towards justice and equality. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism, it presents three data stories. The paper suggests that datafication in education provides a showcase of cruel optimism, i.e., when the object of desire is blocking one’s flourishing. The conclusion considers the constitutive paradoxes of datafied education, and implications for the current phase of edu-technical transformation.

Year of Publication
2019
Journal
Learning, Media and Technology
Volume
44
Issue
1
Number of Pages
77-86
URL
https://digi-ebf.de/system/files/2020-12/Macgilchrist_Cruel_Optimism_preprint2019.pdf
DOI
 https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2018.1556217 
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