The COVID-19 pandemic swiftly transitioned education from traditional classrooms to educational technologies on an unprecedented scale, leading to numerous unintended negative consequences, according to UNESCO’s report, “An Ed-tech Tragedy.”

The report, also published as a book, delves into the adverse effects of this shift. It underscores how technology-first approaches left many learners behind and how education suffered even when technology functioned correctly. The impact of missed schooling is expected to have long-lasting effects on individuals, communities, and entire regions.

UNESCO‘s education experts explained that the report provides valuable lessons and recommendations to ensure technology supports rather than undermines efforts to deliver inclusive and equitable education. The report highlights that, due to the pandemic, technology became the main educational interface as schools closed to prevent virus spread.

Many families, unfamiliar with ed-tech, were compelled to adapt rapidly to technology-based education. This abrupt shift made technology, rather than schools, the primary means of learning.

Experts noted a significant decline in students’ academic progress compared to pre-pandemic levels. The disruption and shortcomings of ed-tech left many students without sufficient educational opportunities, exacerbating existing inequalities and negatively impacting achievement levels, mental and physical health, and accelerating the privatization of education.

The report critiques the initial assumption that technology could replace traditional schooling and highlights the negative environmental impacts of increased tech use. It also points to a concerning shift of authority from educators and communities to private, for-profit entities, along with issues of censorship, data extraction, and surveillance that have reduced the freedom and potential for transformative change in education.

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