Tech, Education, Impact & Ethics

I recently read UNESCO’s Technology in Education: A Tool on Whose Terms?—a sharp and timely reflection on the growing influence of digital tools in schools. For someone like me, who’s passionate about evidence-based innovation and ethical tech design, this report is both a warning and a call to action.

The report pushes back on the prevailing narrative that more technology automatically equals better education. It asks a deeper, more uncomfortable question: whose priorities shape the tech we use in classrooms, and what values are embedded within it? In doing so, it highlights the risks of handing over too much control to commercial edtech providers, often without sufficient regulation, transparency, or evidence of impact.

Rather than taking a blanket pro- or anti-tech stance, UNESCO urges education leaders and policymakers to reclaim agency—to ensure technology serves the goals of education, not the other way around. It warns against uncritically adopting tools that may narrow learning into testable, trackable outputs, or replace teacher judgement with black-box algorithms. In particular, it calls for stronger safeguards around data privacy, equity, and human rights.

What resonated most for me was the report’s insistence that technology in education is never neutral. Every tool reflects a set of assumptions about how learning happens, who it’s for, and what success looks like. If those assumptions aren’t grounded in local realities, evidence, or the voices of teachers and students, the result can be deeply exclusionary—even harmful.

The report offers thoughtful recommendations: involve educators and learners in edtech decisions, invest in public infrastructure, support open-source and rights-respecting alternatives, and develop robust governance frameworks to guide ethical use. Most importantly, it encourages a mindset of critical optimism—welcoming the benefits of digital innovation, but demanding more from how it’s developed, procured, and implemented.

In a world where digital transformation is accelerating, this report is a vital reminder that education must lead the conversation, not follow the market. It’s not about resisting technology—but about ensuring it’s used with care, with purpose, and with people at the centre.