Platforms and digitalization of public education: Exploring its adoption in Catalonia

Abstract

The widespread introduction of digital platforms is transforming teaching and learning processes and school governance. However, despite its rapid implementation in educational systems of very diverse countries, we still have little evidence on the factors and reasons that explain the adoption of digital platforms of global technological corporations in public educational systems. Based on the cultural political economy approach, this research aims to analyze the process of adoption of digitization policies in education in Catalonia. At the methodological level, the study is based on the discourse analysis of semi-structured interviews with policymakers, activists, experts, members of large technological corporations, and stakeholders. The results show how the combination of ideational and material drivers contribute to explaining how digital platforms have permeated the Catalan education system. In particular, it highlights the lack of public leadership, which contrasts with the leading role of global corporations such as Google in the policy process. Likewise, the analysis illuminates the limitations of the process of platformization of education and the disconnection between technological architecture and pedagogy observed in its implementation.