Digital infrastructures for education: On sociotechnical entrenchment, pedagogy and the public interest

As the private sector shapes decisions around educational technology, policymaking and classroom practices, research has identified a democratic deficit in the digital platforms and infrastructures for education. Much research has, however, focused on private-sector actors. This article explores the development of Germany’s digital networked infrastructure for education ( Mein Bildungsraum ), a 600-million-EUR public initiative. The article investigates how a public, not-for-profit infrastructure manifests pedagogical values and priorities. The analysis is grounded in infrastructure studies, platform studies and educational theory. It assumes that digital infrastructures are deeply entangled in sociotechnical relations that shape the future of education and society in significant ways. Using a case study approach, it combines a technical, educational and governance analysis. Findings suggest that users’ data are strongly protected in this public digital infrastructure. However, it reproduces the narrow educational paradigms and lack of democratic participation diagnosed for private, profit-driven infrastructures. These findings challenge existing explanations for how public education is being transformed as the use of digital technologies is intensifying. Privatisation, multiple spheres and interoperability issues only partially explain the study’s findings. The paper suggests that sociocultural contexts and technogenesis are crucial to understand why even publicly-funded projects fail to democratise education.