Turning Schools into Profit Centers Faith Boninger National - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Turning Schools into Profit Centers Faith Boninger National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder

Everything Is New and Everything Stays the Same: “Propaganda” and Teaching Machines 1920s: - National Education Association’s Committee on Propaganda in the Schools (1929) report examines the ways that various companies and organizations try to market to children in schools (e.g., by providing curriculum materials, sponsoring activities, providing free technology [maps, charts, exhibits, thermometers]) - “The difficulty of this problem will be lessened when all schools are supplied with adequate funds so that no school will be compelled to rely on gifts and donations from the outside. If outside agencies are able to pay for gifts to the schools, they are able to pay adequate taxes for the purchase of proper school materials by the board of education.” (p. 33) - Sidney Pressey invents first teaching machine

Who has been promoting education technology? • Funders: • Corporations (e.g., Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Pearson) • Foundations/LLCs (e.g., Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Emerson Collective, Gates Foundation, Google.org,) • Venture Capitalists (e.g., Learn Capital, Owl Ventures, Reach Capital) • Funded: • Advocacy Organizations (e.g., Aurora Institute, KnowledgeWorks) • Education Leadership Organizations (e.g., Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO]) • Trade Associations (e.g., State Educational Technology Directors Association [SETDA], International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE])