TY - ABST

T1 - Inequalities in the datafied school

AU - Lai, Signe Sophus

AU - Flensburg, Sofie

AU - Andelsman Alvarez, Victoria

N1 - Conference code: 4

PY - 2022/6/23

Y1 - 2022/6/23

N2 - With the growing reliance on digital tools and services in schools, processes of datafication (Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier, 2013; van Dijck, 2014) and commodification have gradually and unnoticeably been built into the infrastructures of the public education systems (Cone et al., 2021). This shifting paradigm in one of the cornerstone institutions of the welfare state (Dencik & Kaun, 2020) evokes a range of challenges for teachers, school managements, and state authorities (Van Dijck, Poell and De Waal, 2018). In this paper, we present the results of a study developed in collaboration with the employee-owned co-operative Analyse & Tal for a governmental stakeholder in Denmark – the Agency for IT and learning – as part of an explorative effort of understanding the ways children’s data is being commodified and monetized by powerful data companies. In the study, we analyze the web and app (iOS and Android) versions of 45 tools and services that are highly used in Danish public primary schools, the types of data they generate, and the market actors harvesting and distributing it. The analysis finds that the digital tools and services collect significant amounts of user data, use it for functional as well as commercial purposes, and distribute it to a long list of third-parties. In light of these findings, we reflect on how new and poorly understood inequalities are emerging alongside the growing reliance on digital devices, tools, and services in the datafied and commodified school. These inequalities extend existing social inequalities in society leaving (some) students with even less power over their personal data.

AB - With the growing reliance on digital tools and services in schools, processes of datafication (Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier, 2013; van Dijck, 2014) and commodification have gradually and unnoticeably been built into the infrastructures of the public education systems (Cone et al., 2021). This shifting paradigm in one of the cornerstone institutions of the welfare state (Dencik & Kaun, 2020) evokes a range of challenges for teachers, school managements, and state authorities (Van Dijck, Poell and De Waal, 2018). In this paper, we present the results of a study developed in collaboration with the employee-owned co-operative Analyse & Tal for a governmental stakeholder in Denmark – the Agency for IT and learning – as part of an explorative effort of understanding the ways children’s data is being commodified and monetized by powerful data companies. In the study, we analyze the web and app (iOS and Android) versions of 45 tools and services that are highly used in Danish public primary schools, the types of data they generate, and the market actors harvesting and distributing it. The analysis finds that the digital tools and services collect significant amounts of user data, use it for functional as well as commercial purposes, and distribute it to a long list of third-parties. In light of these findings, we reflect on how new and poorly understood inequalities are emerging alongside the growing reliance on digital devices, tools, and services in the datafied and commodified school. These inequalities extend existing social inequalities in society leaving (some) students with even less power over their personal data.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Dialogues in Data Power

Y2 - 22 June 2022 through 24 September 2022

ER -