Critical studies on education and technology: paths taken and futures imagined. A Dialogue with Neil Selwyn

Abstract

The growing enshittification of school digitalization—marked by the expansion of platformisation, datafication, and algorithmisation of education, together with the consequent loss of the pedagogical and transformative value of digital technologies—has reignited the debate over who designs, governs, and benefits from the development and widespread distribution of digital platforms and devices in the school context. In this context, the present article presents a dialogue between Professors Neil Selwyn and Pablo Rivera-Vargas, focusing on the meaning and challenges of critical studies on educational technology in the so-called postdigital era. The conversation underscores the need to envision more sustainable and context-sensitive digital futures, grounded in small-scale, situated, and pedagogically meaningful technologies. It also highlights the importance of co-constructing digital alternatives from within school communities. Finally, the dialogue addresses pressing issues related to teacher professionalism, the role and growing influence of technological corporations in shaping global education systems, and the conditions required to foster a critical and empowered understanding of digitalization processes among citizens.