In the midst of a cultural shift, the rise of emerging technologies is revolutionizing the educational landscape. AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Bard, Microsoft Bing Chat, and a multitude of AI tools and startups are increasingly finding their way into K-12 classrooms, posing significant implications for public school educators, leaders, and indeed, every public school across the United States.
Remember that today’s kids are digital consumers who were nurtured in an era of rapid technological innovation. Unfortunately, people who decide on the adoption and regulation of new technology frequently lack the essential technical knowledge. This poses a crucial question: Why, in a society where emerging technologies are widely used in education, do important decisions about their implementation not take a wider, more technologically sophisticated viewpoint into consideration?
Decision-making procedures must take into account the various interests of all stakeholders if a democracy is to function constitutionally. The idea that discussion of educational technology should be inclusive and democratic is not an opinion; it is a fact. This serves as the backdrop for the challenge that educators face in navigating the world of emerging technologies, addressing both the opportunities and challenges it presents.
I’ve had a two-decade career in education, and throughout that time I’ve seen the interaction between technology and education from a variety of angles. I have a thorough understanding of how technology and social studies impact students in different ways depending on access and understanding the tech behind edtech breakthroughs, especially for marginalized groups and the systems created to benefit or disadvantage students. I have been a history and social studies teacher, a department chair, an instructional technology coach, a school administrator, and am currently in charge of instructional technology and social studies as a district administrator.
My vision for integrating emerging technologies in education prioritizes representation and inclusivity. Students should have the opportunity to interact with technologies that were created by people who reflect their cultural and social backgrounds. A significant obstacle to achieving equity in the unequal access and a lack of diverse backgrounds infusing their social and cultural identities and backgrounds within the technology tools that are developed, and their use of educational technology is the representation, or misrepresentation, of diverse groups within the technology landscape.
In my role as a district administrator, I advocate for a curriculum that serves as a “window,” a “mirror,” and a “door” for students. Our curriculum should offer students a glimpse into the world through other perspectives (windows), a reflection of their own experiences and identities (mirrors), and pathways to opportunities (doors).
We’re currently developing teacher capacity for culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices and are working on finding ways for our students to learn more about STEM and include machine learning across the grade levels to demystify the AI technologies that are currently exploding across industries. We’re ensuring that our curriculum represents diverse voices, cultures, and experiences. This is so that we can see in the future more Latin coders and tech entrepreneurs, African American AI researchers and venture capitalists, and LGBTQ+ tech leaders, and any number of others that enrich and broaden our perspectives.
The integration of emerging technologies into education should be guided by our core democratic values. As a society, we must learn to navigate the myriad opinions and voices surrounding this topic, compromising, and building consensus on the aspects that are most important. We must strive to create an educational landscape that respects and represents many voices while still acting with compassion and goodwill.
Embracing this challenge, let’s agree on the broad foundation of democratic values and the commitment to fostering an inclusive, equitable educational environment. Let’s invest in creating classrooms where students can interact with technology that respects and reflects their experiences and perspectives. Together, we can navigate this digital age with empathy and reason to enhance learning experiences. Our students, and indeed our future, depend on it.
