Neil Selwyn writes about education, technology society
Nearly four years on after the introduction of ChatGPT into schools, we are beginning to see signs that GenAI is starting to lose its lustre. A recent half-day session with some our research study teachers from Brookdale High School brought up a few interesting points that we were certainly not hearing at the beginning of [ ]
Tech critics occasionally refer to GenAI as ‘digital asbestos’ – i.e. harmful material that we will be spending years trying to purge from our digital ecosystems (what might also be termed the task of de-sloppification). This issue surfaced in our recent conversations with groups of teachers from our study schools. Here, one relatively new teacher [ ]
The summertime is traditionally known as the ‘silly season’ for news media – a time when quirkier, niche stories can make it to press. One such topic is a few ed-tech firms pushing the (faintly ludicrous) idea of humanoid robots being put in classrooms as substitute teachers. In the US, this has seen different stories [ ]
The scope of what schools plausibly might want to know about their students is surprisingly wide. This is leading to all manner of AI surveillance products being pitched to education customers. Take the case of a small Australian AI start-up pitching a ‘faith-based’ version of its ‘HALO’ AI-powered analytics system specifically designed for Australia’s large sector of [ ]
As part of the promotion for the Spanish translation of my Digital Degrowth book I got asked some questions for an education newspaper. The Spanish article is now published so here is what I said in English! Q. Regarding the diagnosis of the problem, at what point do you think digitalization stopped being merely [ ]
With the backlash against digital technology in schools gaining momentum, how can public faith be restored in ed-tech? Even the most bullish of ed-tech boosters can’t fail to have noticed that the use of digital technology in schools is facing something of a backlash. High profile advocacy groups and well-organised parent lobbies are pushing for getting tech out of classrooms [ ]
[Op-ed piece offered to newspapers in the January back-to-school cycle. This piece was not taken-up in this short form, but expanded into a longer piece for The Point] ___________________________________ Students returning to school in a few weeks’ time face a number of new and unfamiliar challenges – one of which will be navigating their first [ ]
1. Dealing with the risks around children’s digital media use is now seen as an important part of ‘good parenting’ Setty et al. (2026) highlight how children’s digital media consumption is now presented to parents as yet another developmental risk that they are obliged to address. ‘Screen-time’ is now something that many parents instinctively feel that they [ ]
It is two years on from many Australian states announcing school smartphone bans. I was contacted for comment on ‘whether or not the phone bans were the gamechanger we think they were’. The final piece in the Guardian is here. Below are my full comments to the main questions. * Most Australian states have had [ ]
There are many reasons to be wary of claims that AI will end up being a wholly positive presence in education. Alongside the blatant big ticket ‘AI harms’ and ‘AI wrongs’ that are now being regularly raised in critical discussions are various subtler changes as AI tools become entrenched in classrooms and other educational settings. These are [ ]