DIGITAL REVOLUTION, TECHNO-OPTIMISM AND EDUCATION

In the last thirty years, educational technologies seem to have paved the way for a revolution that never arrives. In this paper, we review the critical approaches of different authors to this idea. Roughly, these authors analyze why the expectations in this field are not being met, and suggest that a techno-optimistic stance underlies such expectations; this view assimilates technology and progress in a straightforward manner, and advocates the use of technology even in the absence of supporting data. This can be seen as a consequence of certain political and economic interests, together with a form of social enthusiasm towards technology which emanates from its success in other fields (health, transports, communications, etc). We argue in favour of a responsible, reflexive, goal-oriented use of ICTs, making it possible to exploit their huge potential but also to address key questions within education and learning. These ideas should be of interest regarding SDG #4 (Education).