The Great Promise of Educational Technology

This book critically looks at the tensions between the promise to transform education through the use of digital technology and the tendency to utilize digital technology in instrumental and technical ways. The widespread use of digital technology has had a remarkable effect on almost every domain of human life. This technological change has caused governments, educational departments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to recognize the need to develop educational plans that would support the social and the cultural changes that have occurred with the ubiquitous permeation of digital technology into our everyday lives. This book challenges common assumptions regarding digital technology and education, through critical exploration of educational policies, interviews, and class observations in the US and Israel. In doing so, the author sheds light on the possibilities of advancing digital citizenship under current educational policies.

“In this carefully argued book, Mamlok examines “The Great Promise” that digital technologies have the potential to transform and improve education. This view gives technology itself too much influence as a force driving change. Mamlok shows how a framework of neoliberal assumptions drives a vision of education as standardized, efficiency-oriented, competitive, and commodified. In contrast, he presents an alternative vision in which digital technologies could drive change guided by principles of personalized learning, collaboration, and critical digital literacy, supporting a broader conception of education as a path toward active democratic citizenship.”

—Nicholas C. Burbules, Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

“Around the world, many education reformers and tech companies have lauded new digital technology platforms and tools in education as groundbreaking and transformational. Mamlok examines these claims with a critical philosophical perspective, bringing fresh insights into how knowledge is produced, manipulated, and circulated in the digital age. This is a rich account of the challenges and opportunities for educators and policy-makers working to advance the goal of education for critical literacies and empowered digital citizenship.”

—Kathleen Knight Abowitz, Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University, USA

Dan Mamlok is Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Tel Aviv University. His primary areas of scholarship include philosophy of education, sociocultural studies of education, technology in education, and aesthetic education. His research explores the sociocultural aspects of integrating technology and education and specifically deals with questions pertaining to democracy, education, and citizenship.