Natasha Singer—this time with colleague Danielle Ivory—have released another in the New York Times’ series ‘Education Disrupted.’ Like other stories in the series, it focuses on issues of conflicts of interest in education and educational technology. This issue is a cancer on the sector, enabled by and made worse by the lack of any serious interest in self-policing or self-regulation.
Companies are exploiting the education space for sales and public good will, and parents and educators should be questioning how those in the public sector are carrying the branding and marketing of private companies.
It is time to reboot the social contract for public education in a digital age. At the same time, we must remain clear-eyed and recognize the ways in which technology also introduces new issues and potential threats. What we need are terms of service that provide every student and their family assurances that their interests remain at the fore.
