A sea change in society driven by technology presents both opportunities and perils for education and research, especially with respect to equity and human flourishing. It is urgent that scholarship adapt to address this challenge. In this white paper, Hoadley and Uttamchandani outline four major developments in technology that promise to fundamentally alter society: the rise of pervasive or “total” data, platforms for realistic “retina-grade” experiences, deployment of artificial intelligence and other algorithms for processing big data, and the increasing ubiquity of technology access but with digital divides. The authors discuss six key areas of tension regarding technology and education: (1) Ownership, governance, and adoption of information and curricular content; (2) Ownership and control of educational data; (3) personalization vs. standardization of educational experiences and assessment criteria; (4) Nature of knowledge and learning as contested ground; (5) Improvement vs. disruption of educational institutions; and (6) Bottom-up vs. top-down design.
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