Top 5 Resources for Fighting EdTech
Knowledge is power. Here are some resources to get you started.
Note from Emily: I get daily messages asking: “How can I learn more about resisting EdTech in my kid’s school? How can I fight back against YouTube access in classrooms? How do I approach my school leadership about this?” I have written extensively about EdTech in this Substack and I am working on a Book 2 that will address many of these questions. However, in the meantime, I’ve created a shortlist of resources below that I recommend as a starting point. The most important thing I want to convey, however, is that relationships matter and we must replace judgment with curiosity. This is a long path and it can feel quite alienating at times, but I want you to know that you are not alone and change is coming.
My Top 5 Resources for Fighting EdTech:
The Unplug EdTech Toolkit: this is my most downloaded resource (2,000+). This resource includes letter templates and explanations about why EdTech as it currently exists is not good for children or learning. I am very aware that opting out of EdTech products or 1:1s in schools is not always possible. This strategy won’t be the right one for everyone; however, the more of us who do it, the greater effect it can have.
First Fish Chronicles (this Substack) has so many essays about EdTech. You can search for them, but here are links to the most popular ones:
iPads Do Not Belong in School: 6 Fallacies About EdTech and 6 Ideas for a Tech-Intentional™ School
“EdTech” is *Not* “Tech Ed”: What So Many Get So Wrong About Technology in School and the 3 Questions We Should Be Asking
16+ Ways EdTech Harms Children: If EdTech doesn’t educate, what does it do?
The Hard Truth About EdTech: What Administrators, Superintendents, and Principals Need to Know: A Call to Action to the Leaders: We Need Your Help
A Rude and Necessary Awakening: What a Recent FTC Amicus Brief Means for EdTech and What Parents and Schools Need to Know
Search this Substack for “letter templates” to get sample letters you can send your schools about opting out, refusing GenAI, the Amicus Brief, and more.
Search for webinars on EdTech related topics, including my conversations with Jared Cooney Horvath (author of The Digital Delusion), a webinar I taught about Opting Out , and more.
If you’re looking for research about why EdTech products are bad for learning, there is an entire book that covers all of this in-depth: my friend and colleague Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath’s The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning— and How to Help Them Thrive Again. Part 3 is all about what parents, teachers, and school leaders can do to change things. I would recommend this book above all other resources currently available.
If you’re looking for legal advice, have concerns about data collection and privacy, want to learn about current lawsuits against EdTech companies (there are many), or your child has experienced harms on a school-issued device, you must have The EdTech Law Center on your radar. I have worked with Andy and Julie Liddell for nearly a decade, they are my friends and attorneys, and they will not charge you to represent you either— they are a contingency-based firm, meaning they only get paid if they win. Contact them here.
If you are looking for reports about the impact of digital technology and internet use in schools, the only organization I trust complete is Internet Safety Labs. They do not take any money from technology companies (so their research is not biased or influenced in anyway), they are a scrappy non-profit, and their work is invaluable. (For example, they are the ones who found that 96% of EdTech apps sell children’s data to third parties.) They are an excellent resource.
I know there are probably many other good resources out there, but I am very selective in who and what I recommend, as unfortunately, many organizations who claim to want to advocate for or protect children are compromised by their ties to the tech industry, which we write about in this series, The Reckoning.
If you have other resources to recommend, please send me an email and I will take a look.
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