The sociology of education and digital technology: past, present and future

Abstract

During the past 15 years of his career, John Furlong’s research and writing has focused—in part—on digital technologies and people’s everyday experiences of education. While hardly a technology expert, his work has shown an acute awareness of the significance of computers, the internet and mobile telephony in making sociological sense of education. This paper contrasts the limited visibility of such issues within the sociology of education over the past 30 years with how the present situation appears to be improving during the 2010s. The paper also identifies opportunities for future work that engages more in the co-production, development and design of new forms of educational technology. As such it is concluded that a future sociology of education and technology needs to be developed that acts not only against, but also in and beyond, the dominant field of education technology.

Keywords:

• digital technology
• internet
• computers
• sociology of education

Notes

1. We are well aware that observations of this kind can only be made from the privileged position of (over)developed countries such as the UK and Australia. At a rudimentary level, it is important to remember that around half the world’s population has no direct experience of using the internet at all. While this is likely to change with the global expansion of mobile telephony, the issue of unequal access to the most enabling and empowering forms of internet use remains a major concern.