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“EdTech at the crossroads: Does technology really support learning, or does profit overrule rights?” Professor Sonia Livingstone, Department of Media and Communications, The London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Abstract

In high-income countries, politicians are banning children’s use of smartphones at school and social media at home, while in lower-income countries, technology is lauded as a way to leapfrog disadvantage, especially in education. So what does good look like for children’s learning in a digital world? This lecture will adopt a child rights framework to ask critical questions, with a particular focus on educational technologies and their implications for children’s learning, agency, privacy, safety, and participation. I will draw on new findings from our current research project, “Better EdTech Futures for Children,” to illuminate the conundrum of whether technology companies are respecting, even advancing, children’s rights and, if not, what we should do about it.

Bio

Sonia Livingstone OBE FBA, Professor, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science. Sonia has published 21 books on media audiences, children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment. Since founding the EC-funded “EU Kids Online” research network, and Global Kids Online (with UNICEF), she has advised the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU, UNICEF and UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She leads the Digital Futures for Children Centre at LSE with 5Rights Foundation.