Should educators trust big tech?

Microsoft’s recent launch of its AI-powered Reading Coach has sparked considerable interest among both educators and parents. Pledging to transform digital reading for children, can this innovative tool truly elevate literacy skills, especially for children from disadvantaged communities? Or is this another instance of a tech giant potentially misusing its widespread influence on the world’s budding learners?

Microsoft has entered a reading-coach market flooded with AI-powered story-generating apps such as Bedtimestory.AI, Storytailor or LitLab AI. The Reading Coach emphasises robust data protection and high-quality design. The company’s widespread presence in educational institutions (more than 240,000 use Microsoft Teams), coupled with the Reading Coach’s free offerings for cash-strapped schools, makes it unlikely that teachers will invest in additional reading apps. The pessimist in me thinks that this may overshadow research-based efforts aimed at delivering high-quality experiences to children.

A quick product review according to the EdTech Evidence Evaluation Routine criteria reveals a lack of solid principles from learning sciences. The design of its algorithms suggests a commercial intent rather than pedagogical principles, incorporating persuasive design features that aim to keep children on the screen for extended periods. The narrative lacks a sense of temporal sequencing, and new story characters appear without a cohesive flow. The tool’s AI-generated stories present images that merely duplicate the text, diminishing the reading experience to a mere exercise rather than an aesthetically cohesive fusion of images complementing the text—a departure from the qualities found in good children’s picture books.

In the absence of rigorous, objective and independent scientific evaluations for EdTech quality, industry giants such as Microsoft can dictate their own quality rules regarding how reading happens in classrooms. 

Despite advertising mass adoption to schools and parents/guardians, the Reading Coach lacks specific efficacy studies conducted with the tool itself, as indicated by its "research page" that vaguely lists studies relevant to children’s reading. Microsoft’s disregard for the global call for tested and evidence-based EdTech, initiated by UNESCO GEM Report 2023’s "Tech on Our Terms", highlights a troubling trend whereby big tech companies lead by dominating the number of users rather than the amount of studies conducted with their technologies.

So what can be done about this? Despite the availability of 74 EdTech evaluation frameworks, 65 effectiveness and efficacy benchmarks, and various EdTech quality certifications and badges, none of these is evident on Microsoft’s Reading Coach website. The recent panel debate on EdTech evaluation frameworks at the Bett EdTech Show in London highlighted the absence of quality assurance mechanisms for EdTech entering schools. While the recent focus on ethical personal data use with generative AI is important, it has diverted attention from the fundamental question of whether these technologies actually benefit children. In the absence of rigorous, objective and independent scientific evaluations for EdTech quality, industry giants such as Microsoft can dictate their own quality rules regarding how reading happens in classrooms.

As I passed by the expansive Microsoft booth at Bett, filled with children, teachers, and education officials from around the world, I couldn’t help but conclude that marketing, rather than research, remains dominant in the EdTech industry. The absence of scientific discussions at the Bett show over the past decade, coupled with the growing presence of Big Tech exhibitors, paints a troubling picture for children’s learning outcomes: one in which children’s education is governed by big corporations rather than big research.