Technological corporations, digital platforms and privacy: comparing the discourses about the entry of BigTech in public education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5944/reec.42.2023.34417

Keywords:

digital platforms, BigTech, privacy, children’s rights, pandemic, COVID-19

Abstract

In the context of accelerated digitization of education, most public schools are using commercial digital platforms such as Google or Microsoft. This phenomenon, intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, needs to be understood and analyzed by different perspectives and actors to find answers that allow for more sensible and secure use of these tools in educational contexts. In this scenario, this article explores the narratives on the protection of the privacy of users of digital platforms in schools and the protection of children's rights by the main actors in the educational field. The qualitative study is based on 14 interviews with key informants and analyzes their positions and statements concerning the use of commercial digital platforms in schools, the management of data, children's rights and the right to privacy. The results of this research shed light on the discursive tensions between the different educational actors around the entry of digital platforms of technological corporations in public schools.

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Author Biographies

Lluís Parcerisa, Universitat de Barcelona

Lluís Parcerisa holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). He is a Lecturer in the department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization at the University of Barcelona (UB) and a member of the ESBRINA research group -Subjectivities, visualities and contemporary educational environments (2017SGR 1248). His main research interests include the effects of digital platforms on sociodigital inequalities and children's rights, international and comparative education, education policy, sociology of education and technology, datafication and critical data studies. Contact details: lluisparcerisa@ub.edu.  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6755-1988

 

Judith Jacovkis, Universidad de Barcelona

Judith Jacovkis holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She is a Lecturer in the department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization at the University of Barcelona (UB) and a member of the ESBRINA research group -Subjectivities, visualities and contemporary educational environments (2017SGR 1248). Her research interests include the analysis of the education politics, policies, and governance, and of the school experiences and the educational trajectories of children and youth, with a special attention on the educational and socio digital inequalities Contact details: judith.jacovkis@ub.edu. ORCID: 0000-0003-2862-8636

Pablo Rivera-Vargas, 1 Universidad de Barcelona 2 Universidad Andrés Bello

Pablo Rivera-Vargas: BA in Sociology, PhD in Education and Society (University of Barcelona) and PhD in Sociology (University of Zaragoza). He is a Lecturer in the department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization at the University of Barcelona (UB) and a member of the ESBRINA research group -Subjectivities, visualities and contemporary educational environments (2017SGR 1248) and of the Institute for Research in Education at the University of Barcelona. Her research activity has been related to public policies of digital inclusion in formal and non-formal learning contexts; and to the analysis of the use of digital platforms in educational centers, massive data storage and management, and algorithmic education. Contact details: pablorivera@ub.edu. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9564-2596

Gustavo Herrera-Urízar, Universidad de Barcelona

Gustavo Herrera-Urízar, Professor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.  Magister in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso.  Ph.D. in Educational Policies and Management from the University of Playa Ancha.  Doctoral student in the Contemporary Philosophy and Classical Studies program at the University of Barcelona.  ANID SCHOLARSHIPS/DOCTORATE ABROAD – SCHOLARSHIPS CHILE 72210041. Visiting Professor in the department of Teaching and Learning and Educational Organization at the University of Barcelona (UB).  Collaborator in the ESBRINA research group -Subjectivities, visualities and contemporary educational environments (2017SGR 1248).  Research interests: Philosophy of education, Educational Assessment and Learning and Knowledge Technologies.  Contact details: E-mail: gustavo.herrera@ub.edu; ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3546-8976

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Published

2022-12-30

How to Cite

Parcerisa, L., Jacovkis, J. ., Rivera-Vargas, P., & Herrera-Urízar, G. (2022). Technological corporations, digital platforms and privacy: comparing the discourses about the entry of BigTech in public education. Revista Española de Educación Comparada, (42), 221–239. https://doi.org/10.5944/reec.42.2023.34417

Issue

No. 42 (2023): The Global Education Industry: Comparative Education Analyses

Section

MONOGRAPHIC

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