Date of Graduation

Summer 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Transformative Education and Social Change

Committee Chairperson

John Elmore, PhD

Committee Member

Jason Wozniak, PhD

Committee Member

Dana Morrison, PhD

Abstract

In this paper we will be examining the role of educational technology in the United States through a critical lens with the purpose of arguing that the growing dependence on EdTech, standardized testing, and data-driven instruction has contributed to the privatization, dehumanization, and inequity of public education. Drawing from critical pedagogy, sociocultural theory, and educational research both recent and decades prior. In my paper I explore how technology in schools often functions less as a liberatory tool and more as a mechanism of surveillance, commodification, and control. We consider the historical roots of educational inequality, including eugenics, meritocracy, and colonial logics embedded in standardized assessment, while also questioning the ways artificial intelligence and digital platforms shape student learning, teacher labor, and classroom culture. Although technology can serve supportive purposes when used intentionally it also reinforces and creates profit for the educational technology companies that rely on the failure of our students in order to turn a profit. Ultimately, my thesis argues that public education must move away from profit driven systems and toward community centered, humanizing practices that value critical thinking, relational learning, and collective responsibility.

Final Version Confirmation

1

Download

Share

COinS