Technology for Equity and Social Justice in Education: A Critical Issue Overview

Despite a history of techno-idealistic rhetoric and reform efforts in the United States, technology integration in education has tended to reinforce an inequitable and unjust social status quo in our classrooms and more broadly. Today, issues of technology and equity in education are often framed in terms of “access” and digital “participation,” both measures of formal equality that may leave us significantly short of substantive equity. This critical issue is formed around a general critique of technology as a value-free subject or set of tools in education. The contributing authors demonstrate what it means to interrogate our assumptions about technology in broader ethical contexts and critically engage technology specifically for transformative educational goals of equity and social justice.