Ben Williamson is a lecturer in education at the University of Stirling. His research examines the interweaving of politics, governing, and digital technologies in education. He studies “network governance” in education policy, and is leading a funded project exploring how computer code interacts with educational institutions, pedagogic practices, and governing processes.
Ben Williamson
Articles
November 28, 2016
IBM, Pearson and the Cognitive Infrastructure of Education
The world’s largest edu-business, Pearson, partnered with one of the world’s largest computing companies, IBM, at the end of October 2016 to develop new approaches to education in the “cognitive era.” Their...
Categories: Edtech, New TrendsOctober 24, 2016
Schooling the Platform Society
Social media platforms have become key parts of everyday life. The use of Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify and so on has become so widespread that some commentators have begun to speak of an...
Categories: Edtech, New TrendsSeptember 8, 2016
Critical Educational Questions for Big Data, Part 2
I started a list of critical questions for big data in education earlier this week. This is a big topic, raising lots of big questions and serious topics and problems for further...
Categories: Critical Perspectives, EdtechSeptember 5, 2016
Critical Educational Questions for Big Data
Big data has arrived in education. Educational data science, learning analytics, computer adaptive testing, assessment analytics, educational data mining, adaptive learning platforms, new cognitive systems for learning and even educational applications based...
Categories: Critical Perspectives, Edtech, New TrendsMay 30, 2016
Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Systems and the Learning Brain
New ideas about artificial intelligence and cognitive computing systems in education have been advanced this year by major computing and educational businesses, including Pearson and IBM. Pearson’s promotion of AI reflects its...
Categories: Edtech, New TrendsMay 12, 2016
Silicon Valley’s high-tech companies, startups and venture capitalists are “the centre of a techno-economic revolution” that is “now spreading outwards across the world, with major societal effects and implications,” argues Alistair Duff...
Categories: Edtech, Educational PracticeMarch 10, 2016
ClassDojo and the Measurement and Management of Growth Mindsets
ClassDojo is one of the most successful educational technologies in history. Originally developed as part of a Silicon Valley ed-tech accelerator program, it is highly illustrative of how the entrepreneurial culture and...
Category: EdtechJanuary 25, 2016
Turning Digital Learning Into Intellectual Property
The world’s largest publisher of educational textbooks and resources, Pearson, recently extended its work into digital media and learning. As well as producing innovative new digital learning resources and platforms, Pearson is...
Category: EdtechNovember 30, 2015
Learning in the Digital Microlaboratory of Educational Data Science
In the last few years, Educational Data Science has emerged as a new field of inquiry in educational research. Where did it come from, what is its likely future impact on the...
Category: EdtechOctober 26, 2015
Disruptive innovation. Bleeding edge. Scalable solutions. The Uber for X. Silicon Valley is routinely ridiculed for the language of technology entrepreneurship and startup culture it has dispersed. Yet, the Silicon Valley vocabulary...
Categories: Edtech, Educational Practice