GDS & Kennisnet Symposium – Digital autonomy in education: a public responsibility

How can the public education sector, schools and education professionals maintain control over education and pedagogy in a platform-driven AI transition? Educational organisations are becoming increasingly dependent on the platforms and AI infrastructure of big tech companies, and this is not without consequences.

These issues are about 'digital autonomy' - the freedom of schools to control their digital environment based on public values, independent of (ed)tech companies. This is not an individual matter for schools, but a public responsibility; a matter of such importance that it deserves the collective attention of academics, education professionals, students, public education organisations and politicians.
 
To determine what education needs to do in this new context of AI, it is necessary to better understand what is going on. In this symposium, organised by Utrecht University (focus area Governing the Digital Society) and Kennisnet, we will explore what is needed in (academic) research and practice in order to jointly secure control of public education over digitalisation of schools in general and AI in particular.  Based on two keynotes (Dr Ben Williamson, University of Edinburgh and Dr Anne Helmond, University of Utrecht) and two panel discussions, we will start a dialogue on how education and policy can use academic knowledge to build a balanced and inclusive AI future, with (digital) autonomy as a public value at the forefront.  With practitioners, we will discuss how research can be of value to practice. We will also discuss what new critical academic research is needed and how we can make it happen together.

What's going on?

• More and more learning tools are being developed that use artificial intelligence. However, it is far from clear how this is done and what the influence and role of the big tech platforms (Amazon, Microsoft, Google) is. How do these systems affect schooling and what does this mean for children's education?
• 'Educational AI' uses huge amounts of data in opaque algorithmic models. This datafication raises questions about transparency and accountability. What educational and pedagogical decisions does such a model make? And more importantly, on what data and criteria are they based?
• Artificial intelligence is rapidly being 'industrialised', with Big Tech and AI being closely linked. Educational AI cannot exist without big tech's digital cloud infrastructure and investment. This dependency puts pressure on the sovereignty of the sector and educational organisations.
• The development of AI is reshaping the market for digital educational resources. Educational publishers and large technology companies are forming strategic partnerships, such as the recent one between Microsoft and Sanoma Learning.

Who should attend

Researchers, school leaders, teachers, educators and policymakers.

Programme

Speakers

Ben Williamson is a media researcher at the University of Edinburgh. He is the lead author of the recent report 'Time for a Pause: Without effective public oversight, AI in schools will do more harm than good' (2024). The report finds that AI applications are being widely adopted in public education, while the transparent democratic frameworks to properly oversee and guide them are still lacking. This 'unregulated' embedding of AI in schools, Williamson argues, poses a major threat to the freedoms of schools, students and teachers.

Niels Kerssens is a lecturer at the Department of Media and Cultural Studies at Utrecht University. His research focuses on the impact of platformisation on public education.

Anne Helmond is Associate Professor of Media, Data & Society at Utrecht University. She is co-director (with Prof. José van Dijck) of the research area 'Governing the Digital Society'. Her research focuses on the processes of platformisation, algorithmisation and datafication from an empirical and historical perspective. Her work emphasises the (data) infrastructures that support these processes in order to explore the power of platforms.