In this author’s workshop, we engaged with, unpacked, and bridged conceptual frameworks around decoloniality and social justice in education, particularly within the education technology space (EdTech). The aim of the workshop was to support emerging researchers and research practitioners in understanding what conceptual frameworks are and to introduce participants to decolonial conceptual frameworks that they could use and adapt in their work. Additionally, we shared how new conceptual frameworks could be built. Loosely defined, conceptual frameworks illustrated the relationship between different concepts, theories, and/or variables. A conceptual framework could be used and tested in deductive research or developed through inductive research.

While much had been written about “decolonial education” and “decolonial research methods”, conversations on ‘decoloniality in EdTech’ were still nascent. Decolonising EdTech involved dismantling the ‘relations of power and conceptions of knowledge’ that were reproduced through EdTech in: its fundamental assumptions; its content; its pedagogical underpinnings; its design; and its implementation through national, international, and development efforts.

In this interactive workshop, we engaged with some foundational texts and ideas in decolonial theory relating to: Globalising education, western-centric epistemological and pedagogical underpinnings in EdTech, dominant languages used to achieve EdTech product scaling, “core-to-periphery” implementation of EdTech products, and technological design critiques. The workshop included time to reflect and discuss ideas in breakout groups. We hoped this workshop inspired and supported participants to contribute articles to the emerging field of decolonising EdTech.