Debates About EdTech in a Time of Pandemics Should Include Youth’s Voices

The EdTech debate continues to gather attention among academia, digital rights and privacy advocates, and the general public. While much ink is spilled by EdTech critics, with best interest for students facing a datafied and platformised education at heart, youth’s voice is rarely present. Much is written about what EdTech means for education processes and what they might do to students or for them than is said in their own words. With the pandemic having kept children and youth at a computer distance from each other and society for over a year, what has been happening in their lives during this time should be heard – in their own words. This article follows on two emergencies gripping education globally as highlighted during the 2020 United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), emphasised by two IGF youth representatives. On one hand, the pandemic crisis has exacerbated digital inequalities worldwide; on the other, the ‘overdigitisation’ of education has increased the risks of dataveillance and privacy loss. These two extremes intersect in their techno-deterministic drive, which risks side-lining students’ perspectives. To counter this risk, this paper brings these youths’ perspectives and reflections over the dichotomy of ‘none’ versus ‘too much’ EdTech and what ‘works’ and does not in their learning in a time of pandemic.