The EdTech database: A novel approach to studying EdTech in the age of datafication?

EdTech is a big global business. Just in Australia, the sector’s combined revenue amounts to AUD $3.6 billion. What underpins the operation of this business is the massive extraction of personal data from its users, who by contrast, are often left in the dark about the practices of these companies. In this paper, we present our experiences and preliminary findings of developing a database of EdTech companies and products available to children, parents, and educators in Australia. We discuss how our Database-as-Intervention (DaI) method is useful in problematising the ubiquitous culture of corporate datafication in education. Our design intervention involved three phases: (1) identifying EdTech companies and products used by parents and early learning and care services in Australia; (2) sourcing relevant publicly available information about these EdTech companies and products; and (3) conducting design sprints in the form of small-group workshops with parents, educators, and EdTech industry personnel. The aim of the design sprints was to find out how different stakeholders understand the database's value. Additionally, the design sprints aimed to test the effectiveness of the database as an intervention method, capable of making visible power imbalances between EdTech companies and their users (i.e., parents, educators). While the design sprints illustrated a sense of ‘digital resignation’ among parents and educators, the participants also developed new understandings of some aspects of EdTech’s corporate practices, such as datafication, and monetisation. We conclude the paper with several provocations regarding future research and we identify potential spaces for policy intervention and institutional support.