Decolonising Educational Technology

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Technology Enhanced Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 14741

Special Issue Editors

College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2, Canada
Interests: mobile learning; makerspaces; technology-enhanced learning; socio-materialism/new materialism; social constructionism; language revitalization
Institute of Education, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, UK
Interests: mobile and digital learning, particularly in the Globalised South; digital literacy; the use of social media for public health benefits; school children as leaders of public health movements
Education Observatory, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, UK
Interests: e-learning; mobile learning; educational technology; the changing nature and design of learning; mobility and connection in society, technology, learning disadvantage and development; capacity building and early researcher development; informal digital learning in development and disadvantaged contexts
1. Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa
2. Senior Research Lead, EdTech Hub, Johannesburg 2194, South Africa
Interests: justice-oriented inclusive education models; decolonising EdTech; digital neocolonialism; massive open online courses; open educational practices; blended learning and EdTech for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); critical digital pedagogies; education data management; national virtual learning environments; digital platform building blocks; tech-supported teacher professional development (TPD); structured pedagogy and personalized adaptive learning
Digital Learning Research Ltd., Writtle University College, Chelmsford CM1 3RR, UK
Interests: digital learning; digital capabilities; accessibility and inclusion; digital leadership and managing strategic change; data analytics; education technology product and service management; augmented and virtual reality for learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Edition was produced as part of the UNESCO Chair in Innovative Informal Digital Learning in Disadvantaged and Development Contexts programme. Here is a quick summary of the call for papers:

  • We invite you to submit papers to this Special Issue about decolonising the field of educational technology in any and every manifestation.
  • “Decolonising” refers to the acts of recognising, confronting and undoing the processes, structures and concepts by which any more powerful country, culture or community physically or remotely oppresses another smaller one, either currently or historically.
  • “Educational technology” refers to the hardware, software, products, services, infrastructure, applications and interfaces, as well as the projects, programmes, processes, structures, values, knowledge systems and philosophies that they are situated in.
  • We invite submissions on (landscape, policy, product or systematic) reviews, practices, case studies, political economy analysis, evaluations, methodologies, methods and (theoretical, analytical, or conceptual) frameworks that identify and/or challenge the (neo)colonial norms embedded in the field of educational technologies.
  • We are conscious that every part of the research publishing cycle itself has also been perpetuating colonial, post-colonial, neocolonial and hegemonic practices. Thus, we explicitly welcome a wide variety of authors with their unique perspectives and styles of writing to contribute to this journal issue—including writers, scholars, practitioners and community members who traditionally lack representation in academic journals.

For further details, please read below.

Decoloniality is broadly defined here as “the dismantling of relations of power and conceptions of knowledge that foment the reproduction of racial, gender and geopolitical hierarchies that came into being or found new and more powerful forms of expression in the modern/colonial world.” (Maldonado-Torres, 2016). We are, however, open to different definitions.

It is vitally important to critically explore educational technology offerings, including hardware, software, infrastructure, applications and interfaces, as well as the projects, programmes, research, processes, structures, values, knowledges and philosophies that they are situated in. Similarly, it is important to critically analyse the actors and systems which these educational technologies are embedded in, asking questions such as “by whom?”, “for whom?”, “who benefits?” and “what are the hidden agendas?”.

To what extent and in what ways are these technologies and systems perpetuating and reinforcing the values, worldviews, institutions, resources and knowledge systems that are entangled with (neo)colonialism? Drawing from Adam et al. (2022), decolonising the field of educational technology includes topics such as:

  • Globalising education (e.g., through universal education platforms), such that dominant knowledge (mostly white, western-centric), values, norms and beliefs are promoted to the detriment of those from marginal, non-dominant, local and indigenous groups;
  • Western-centric epistemological and pedagogical underpinnings in EdTech that, for example, focus on the individual—their individual learning path, their individual assessments, their arrival at a predetermined completion point—to the detriment of communitarian models of learning or critical pedagogies that centre praxis;
  • Dominant languages used to achieve EdTech product scaling, which led to the loss of the conceptual frameworks used by minority languages and, resultantly, the loss of scholarship in minority languages;
  • “Core-to-periphery” implementation of EdTech products that, for example, promote a predominantly one-way transmission of standardised knowledge from Western countries to a diverse and complex pool of ‘awaiting’ participants globally;
  • Technological design critiques that go beyond looking at user-friendliness and content design, to discussions of who creates EdTech products, who it is designed for and the embeddedness of colonial logics;
  • Adverse incorporation (“datafication”) whereby young learners’ thoughts and experiences are tracked and monitored, providing them with a digital footprint that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

Based on Adam et al. (2022), submissions may focus on, but are by all means not limited to:

  • Inequity and injustices in online and/or digital education systems;
  • Decolonial critiques of technological design, pedagogical design and learning analytics processes;
  • Decolonial critiques of open education and/or MOOCs;
  • Digital neocolonialism through the technologisation of education;
  • Lack of epistemic diversity in EdTech and online education;
  • Indigenous knowledges and reclaiming diverse non-Western centric epistemologies in educational technologies;
  • Positionality in EdTech researchers.

We invite submissions on (landscape, policy, product or systematic) reviews, practices, case studies, political economy analysis, evaluations, methodologies, methods and (theoretical, analytical or conceptual) frameworks that identify and/or challenge the (neo)colonial norms embedded in the field of educational technologies. We encourage novel, critical and decolonial approaches to tackle the themes as well as foregrounding experiences of those at the margins. Furthermore, we are also open to novel decolonial methodologies.

We are also conscious that every part of the research publishing cycle itself perpetuates colonial, postcolonial and neocolonial hegemonic practices and that we are not always aware of the processes or the details by which this happens. In recognition of the possible hegemonic aspects of the publishing cycle, we welcome a wide variety of authors with their unique perspectives and styles of writing to contribute to this journal issue—including practitioners, scholars and community members who might be ‘hard-to-reach’ or traditionally lack representation in academic journals. We encourage those in early parts of their career to submit papers. For scholars with more experience, we encourage co-authoring with early career scholars, practitioners and the communities you are conducting research with. We are happy to provide informal feedback on ideas and approaches and support the articles that respect authors’ cultural styles/voices and find ways to fit with yet challenge current hegemonic publishing practices.

Dr. Marguerite Koole
Dr. Matt Smith
Prof. John Traxler
Dr. Taskeen Adam
Guest Editors

Shri Footring
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • decolonisation
  • coloniality
  • digital
  • edtech
  • educational technology
  • oppression
  • education
  • marginalisation

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 1111 KiB  
Article
Perspectives of Distance Learning Students on How to Transform Their Computing Curriculum: “Is There Anything to Be Decolonised?
by Zoe Tompkins, Clem Herman and Magnus Ramage
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(2), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14020149 - 31 Jan 2024
Viewed by 633
Abstract
Recent years have seen a growing momentum within UK Higher Education institutions to examine the colonial legacy entanglements of teaching materials and knowledge production, as institutions explore what it means to ‘decolonise the curriculum’. While the movement began in the University of Cape [...] Read more.
Recent years have seen a growing momentum within UK Higher Education institutions to examine the colonial legacy entanglements of teaching materials and knowledge production, as institutions explore what it means to ‘decolonise the curriculum’. While the movement began in the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in response to a student call for the statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed, elsewhere this has become a top-down imperative from institutions themselves. In 2014 University College London hosted a panel discussion ‘Why Isn’t My Professor Black’ building on the previous year’s video asking, ‘Why is my curriculum white’. By 2020 the #BlackLivesMatter movement once again illuminated the need to rebalance the power of who decides the ‘facts’ with a call for a transformation of knowledge production. Arts and Humanities curricula have been more easily adapted in response to this call, but the argument for decolonisation of STEM subjects in general and computing in particular have been more difficult to articulate. Moreover, the decolonisation shift has been largely confined to bricks and mortar universities, with little exploration of online and distance learning. This paper reports on an initiative in a British distance learning university to decolonise the computing curriculum, with a focus on students’ perspectives and what barriers might be encountered. A survey of just under 400 undergraduate computing students revealed multiple understandings about decolonisation, and reactions ranging from hostility and resistance to strong support and endorsement. Students identified several challenges to student engagement including structural and practical concerns which should inform the computing education community in taking forward this agenda. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
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31 pages, 1323 KiB  
Article
Designing for Social Justice: A Decolonial Exploration of How to Develop EdTech for Refugees
by Katrina Barnes, Aime Parfait Emerusenge, Asma Rabi, Noor Ullah, Haani Mazari, Nariman Moustafa, Jayshree Thakrar, Annette Zhao and Saalim Koomar
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010077 - 09 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1037
Abstract
This paper reflects on the lived experiences of young refugees located in Pakistan and Rwanda when interacting with education technology (EdTech) during and following displacement. We offer a broad decolonial commentary on issues related to the design and development of EdTech initiatives for [...] Read more.
This paper reflects on the lived experiences of young refugees located in Pakistan and Rwanda when interacting with education technology (EdTech) during and following displacement. We offer a broad decolonial commentary on issues related to the design and development of EdTech initiatives for refugees, noting some of the historical trends prevalent in the education and emergencies sector. We are guided by questions such as: Why EdTech to start with? Who designs the products? Where are they designed? How are they designed? And, which power dynamics are at play during the design process? From this, we draw on qualitative data generated through three focus groups, where we explore young refugees’ experiences of EdTech. The focus group included a creative element inviting participants to imagine what a liberatory EdTech practice would look like. We aim to illustrate the practical implications of design choices taken by EdTech developers and, from this, recommend a set of justice-centred design principles for developers of EdTech in refugee contexts. These insights relate specifically to the experiences of refugees in Rwanda and Pakistan, though we also discuss the implications of these learnings for other contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
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21 pages, 3576 KiB  
Article
Supported Open Learning and Decoloniality: Critical Reflections on Three Case Studies
by Robert Farrow, Tim Coughlan, Fereshte Goshtasbpour and Beck Pitt
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(11), 1115; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111115 - 07 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1423
Abstract
Open education has been highlighted as a route to social justice and decolonisation. This paper presents reflections on decolonisation processes pertaining to three educational technology projects conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, Myanmar and Kenya, each of which featured contributions by The Open University (UK). [...] Read more.
Open education has been highlighted as a route to social justice and decolonisation. This paper presents reflections on decolonisation processes pertaining to three educational technology projects conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, Myanmar and Kenya, each of which featured contributions by The Open University (UK). Through recognising the importance of under-represented Global South perspectives, we consciously and critically reflect on our cases from a Global North framing to assess the extent to which the Supported Open Learning (SOL) model for engagement supports decolonisation and related processes. We use the categories of coloniality of being, coloniality of power, and coloniality of knowledge to structure our reflections. As open educational practice (OEP), the SOL model can offer a practical approach which emphasises equity and inclusion. SOL involves both an ethos and a set of pedagogical practices. This can support meaningful critical reflection and exchange while offering a pragmatic approach to the delivery of educational technology initiatives. In conclusion, a framework mapping features of SOL and their relation to decoloniality is offered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
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16 pages, 804 KiB  
Article
Decolonizing Technologies through Emergent Translanguaging Literature from the Margin: An English as a Foreign Language Writing Teacher’s Poetic Autoethnography
by Shizhou Yang
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13100974 - 24 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1070
Abstract
Many scholars have portrayed technological advances as conducive to English language teaching and learning, without questioning their possible colonial assumptions about languages and literacies. Drawing on critical pedagogy and Global South epistemologies, I reconceptualize decolonization as a humanizing project in the contact zones [...] Read more.
Many scholars have portrayed technological advances as conducive to English language teaching and learning, without questioning their possible colonial assumptions about languages and literacies. Drawing on critical pedagogy and Global South epistemologies, I reconceptualize decolonization as a humanizing project in the contact zones between English and non-English languages. This poetic autoethnography, informed by my memories of my own experience as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner in China, alongside a wide range of artifacts from a senior seminar course in an international college in a Thai private university, illustrates how educational technologies can be decolonized by producing (and publishing) emergent translanguaging literature that repositions teachers and students from marginalized backgrounds as co-creators of new knowledge about languages and literacies in the global context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
13 pages, 291 KiB  
Article
Digital Education Colonized by Design: Curriculum Reimagined
by Cristina Costa, Priyanka Bhatia, Mark Murphy and Ana Lúcia Pereira
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(9), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090895 - 04 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1910
Abstract
This paper enlists Paulo Freire’s work to explore the interplay between technology and pedagogy from a decolonial approach, thus stressing the importance of adopting a critical stance to the facilitation of digital education experiences. It starts by denouncing digital education as entrapped in [...] Read more.
This paper enlists Paulo Freire’s work to explore the interplay between technology and pedagogy from a decolonial approach, thus stressing the importance of adopting a critical stance to the facilitation of digital education experiences. It starts by denouncing digital education as entrapped in digital capitalism, contending how curricular practices are likely to be subjugated to technological function. Through such a conceptual lens, digital curriculum design is explored from a perspective of learning solidarity, aiming to disrupt the instrumentalization of education and creating educational experiences that cater for a humanizing process of education. The paper aims to contribute with ideas towards a framework of critical digital education, deeming the interactive and creative side of technologies as well as the socio-affective dimension of education crucial to the decolonization of different ways of (curricular) knowing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
12 pages, 1043 KiB  
Article
Improving Massive Open Online Courses to Reduce the Inequalities Created by Colonialism
by Hani Morgan
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 772; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13080772 - 28 Jul 2023
Viewed by 919
Abstract
Many nations that were once colonized continue to suffer from the economic effects of the colonial period. People in countries with high levels of poverty may benefit from taking massive open online courses (MOOCs) because these courses are broadcast for free or for [...] Read more.
Many nations that were once colonized continue to suffer from the economic effects of the colonial period. People in countries with high levels of poverty may benefit from taking massive open online courses (MOOCs) because these courses are broadcast for free or for considerably less than the cost of enrolling in traditional classes. However, these courses have been criticized for maintaining the inequalities created by colonialism. This study focuses on exploring whether MOOCs create inequalities toward people living in the Global South. It addresses how language, access to technology, and economic insecurity may make these courses less beneficial for people from low-income families than for those from more privileged backgrounds. It begins with a discussion of how colonialism impacted many nations in the world. Although many nations became free of colonial rule, colonialism led to economic instability, much of which persists to the present day. The findings indicate that MOOCs contribute to inequalities in several ways. One of these ways is by not providing enough support to help people from low-income families complete these courses. Another relates to the cost associated with having a strong internet connection and the other resources needed to submit work on time. The findings offer ideas on improving MOOCs. These ideas include offering MOOCs in the native languages of people living in the Global South and avoiding offering these courses according to the xMOOC model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
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13 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Distance Education under Oppression: The Case of Palestinian Higher Education
by Matt Smith and Howard Scott
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070729 - 17 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1215
Abstract
This paper draws from both empirical research on an EU-funded project in Palestine and from the lived experiences of Palestinian HE educators. The geopolitical situation is precarious at the best of times in Palestine, where Israel monitors and controls the Palestinians’ right to [...] Read more.
This paper draws from both empirical research on an EU-funded project in Palestine and from the lived experiences of Palestinian HE educators. The geopolitical situation is precarious at the best of times in Palestine, where Israel monitors and controls the Palestinians’ right to travel, live and work—even more so if they wish to accomplish these activities abroad—and their access to the internet is never free from surveillance. In these circumstances and under these conditions, distance education has played a crucial role in supporting Palestinian students to develop a global voice. This paper captures some of the educational challenges encountered by Palestinian students and teachers generally in their daily contexts and, more specifically, in their experiences of learning and teaching, and the methods used to overcome these barriers. It draws on multiple sources and on studies recently carried out in the field by Palestinian colleagues and will discuss the challenging aspects of learning online from a range of perspectives in each of these studies before offering conclusions and recommendations/implications for other areas of study in situations of oppression. Initial findings indicate that distance education enables a form of continuity in regions exposed and accustomed to extreme and regular disruption. We were also inspired to see throughout responses the values attributed to pursuing education by Palestinian educators and their students. The persistence and perseverance reflect a determination that underlines the importance of education as a fundamental human right, national identity and sovereignty, personal source of hope and strength, and opportunity to open one’s world. In our conclusions, we argue for the importance of digital literacy among educators to facilitate the continuity of distance education and finish with some recommendations as to how technologies can ease disruption to ordinary educational service. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)

Review

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14 pages, 1049 KiB  
Review
Deconstructing the Normalization of Data Colonialism in Educational Technology
by Lucas Kohnke and Dennis Foung
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010057 - 03 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1252
Abstract
As learning analytics and educational data mining have become the “new normal” in the field, scholars have observed the emergence of data colonialism. Generally, data colonialism can be understood as the process by which data were considered “free” to take and appropriate. Building [...] Read more.
As learning analytics and educational data mining have become the “new normal” in the field, scholars have observed the emergence of data colonialism. Generally, data colonialism can be understood as the process by which data were considered “free” to take and appropriate. Building on this theoretical understanding, this study aims to contextualize data colonialism in educational technology by identifying and reviewing learning analytics studies that adopted a predictive analytics approach. We examined 22 studies from major educational technology journals and noted how they (1) see data as a resource to appropriate, (2) establish new social relations, (3) show the concentration of wealth, and (4) promote ideologies. We found evidence of data colonialism in the field of educational technology. While these studies may promote “better” ideologies, it is concerning how they justify the authorities capitalizing on “free” data. After providing a contextualized view of data colonialism in educational technology, we propose several measures to decolonialize data practices, adopting a postcolonialist approach. We see data colonialism not only as a privacy issue but also as a culture that must be challenged. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decolonising Educational Technology)
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