Datafied school life: the hidden commodification of digital learning

ABSTRACT

Amid the increasing reliance on digital tools and services in education, this article examines the datafication and commodification of student life in Denmark. We analyse the web and app (iOS and Android) versions of 45 tools and services that teachers in Danish public primary schools use as part of their teaching, the types of data generated by them, and the market actors harvesting and distributing the user data. The analysis finds that the websites and apps collect significant amounts of user data, use it for functional as well as commercial purposes, and distribute it to a long list of third-party services. In light of these findings, we reflect on how the increasing datafication of school life and the inherent commodification of digital learning challenge established welfare state ideals surrounding public schooling, raise challenges for schools and teachers alike, and create new inequalities amongst students.

KEYWORDS:

• Datafication
• apps
• education
• mobile communication
• digital inequality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by European Research Council [grant number 947735].