Neil Selwyn

@neilselwyn.bsky.social

2K followers 160 following 130 posts

sociology of education + digital | Monash University | research interests: automation, AI, datafication, digital degrowth | host of 'Education Technology Society' podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1301377

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Education 38%

Political science 16%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 18h

As South Korea 🇰🇷 announces another big push for AI in education ('AI for All' initiative), I was interviewed at length by one the KyungHyang daily newspaper.

The title sums it up!

"AI answers education’s problems? Education using AI will be ‘second rate education"

www.khan.co.kr/article/2025...

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 2d

🎙️🎧new podcast episode: Is using GenAI in education ‘pedagogically irresponsible’?

www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

Using GenAI in education is ‘pedagogically irresponsible’
Education Technology Society podcast
new episode with Dr. Gene Fenaldy

Quote from the episode: “When I first went to university, it was a transformative experience. I didn't meet chatbots. I met people there who were role models for a different kind of life. My worry is that watering down that transformative experience where you meet people, you meet role models, and replacing that with chatbots cuts the value out of education entirely”

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 4d

"Learning How To Learn In the Age of GenAI" ... new 30 minute discussion of education & AI from Australia's national public broadcaster (ABC Radio National) - click here to listen: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Learning how to learn in the age of generative AI - ABC listen

It's exactly three years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene. In that short period of time the process of academic assessment has been in upheaval. Across the world educators are trying to address how ...

www.abc.net.au

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 14d

... I was one of many people interviewed for the piece - we talked for way longer than is usually the case for stories like this, and there was follow-up queries from Wired's *fact-checkers*. Would love to see more of this type of media coverage of AI & education .... there is plenty to investigate!

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 14d

It is great that Wired is actually paying journalists to do the careful critical investigations like this on the realities of the AI boosterism that is now coming to a head in our schools ...

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 14d

Wired has just published an in-depth piece on Alpha Schools ... giving us a deep-dive on the realities of AI-driven schools sold on the promise of students plugged into personalised learning systems and doing ('crushing') a full day's schoolwork in only 2 hours: www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...

Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out

In Brownsville, Texas, some families found a buzzy new school’s methods—surveillance of kids, software in lieu of teachers—to be an education in and of itself.

www.wired.com

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 17d

'What's At Stake? Young People's Take on AI and Education' - brilliant looking zine produced by young people in the UK telling education leaders & teachers what they want 'responsible AI' to look like in their classrooms.

ai-and-education.shorthandstories.com/zine/index.h...

What's at stake? Young people's take on AI and education

This zine represents the messages young people wanted to share with decision-makers and educators, to help you make responsible AI a reality in education.

ai-and-education.shorthandstories.com

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 18d

🎙️ Niels Kerssens & I talk about the platformisation of Dutch primary schools ... and how schools can reclaim a degree of
‘digital autonomy’ through new collaborative and non-corporate forms of ed-tech ...

www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 19d

"Ruinous EdTech – higher education and computing's excesses" - Colm O'Neill is giving an online seminar at Edinburgh Uni (Dec 11th) exploring how ed-tech can engage with ideas of digital degrowth, decolonial computing etc.

Book your place now!
www.de.ed.ac.uk/event/colm-o...

Colm O’Neill: Ruinous EdTech – higher education and computing's excesses | Digital Education

www.de.ed.ac.uk

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Giovanna Mascheroni @giovannamas.bsky.social · 29d

@neilselwyn.bsky.social “Young people spend way more time outside school, so really we should be talking about how parents and families regulate their children’s device use at home,” he says. “Unfortunately, this isn’t something that most politicians want to do." www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Two years after school phone bans were implemented in Australia, what has changed?

Phone bans are now well-established in many Australian primary and secondary schools. Have they made a difference?

www.theguardian.com

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 29d

... and here is the Guardian article in full(!) - www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Two years after school phone bans were implemented in Australia, what has changed?

Phone bans are now well-established in many Australian primary and secondary schools. Have they made a difference?

www.theguardian.com

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 29d

It is two years on from many Australian states announcing school smartphone bans. I'm happy to have been included in today's Guardian article on whether the phone bans were the gamechanger we were told they'd be. FWIW, here are my full comments to the journalist: criticaledtech.com/2025/10/13/s...

Smartphone bans in schools – how much has changed?

It is two years on from many Australian states announcing school smartphone bans. I was contacted for comment on ‘whether or not the phone bans were the gamechanger we think they were’. The final p…

criticaledtech.com

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Oct 11

Aidan Walker on why "now is *not* the time to ban phones ...
why Jonathan Haidt sucks"

howtodothingswithmemes.substack.com/p/now-is-not...

If you take Haidt’s premise that phones and social media are hurting children as true, then you should question whether the right policy remedy is an intervention in the way teachers run their classrooms and what children are allowed to see and do online

Why not fine the companies for endangering kids or create new rules they have to follow? Why not introduce competition into a monopolized market space, so that parents and kids have more choice in how to spend their time online? Why not put consumer safety standards on the algorithms, the software, the devices themselves?

Why is the preferred tool to save a generation from anguish and our democracy from decline a patchwork of laws governing the decisions consumers can make, instead of a strategy to hold bad actors and industry to account?

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Oct 11

One of the benefits of our kid's forced-exposure to 'AI search' results is that they are seeing GenAI/ Google Search deteriorate in front of their eyes. Now Google seems to have trouble with simply presenting symbols and words as humans understand them ...

$screenshot from a Google search result - AI overview advising the "standard cupcakes typically take 15 to 25 minutes to bake at $350^\circ$F ($180^\circ$C)" ... presumably confusing the ASCII codes with the symbols that should be presented?$

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · Oct 2

Cool parcel in the post of an "Ed-tech Agitprop Pack" unexpectedly sent by @neilselwyn.bsky.social

"The ed-tech that we're currently dealing with is not a done deal!" as the accompanying note says.

Photo of a tote bag with printed text "Distrusting educational technology" and stickers reading "Get AI out of education" and "Ed-tech is full of bullshit"

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Oct 1

Should teachers use AI to write emails to parents? ... listen to me talk with Brad Robinson about the rise of AI tools now offering to do teacher tasks, such as lesson planning, grading assignments and writing feedback. A way to 'work smarter' or a slippery slope?! www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Sep 24

For those who don't know, I produce a podcast featuring some of the latest thinking in the critical studies of education & tech.

We have just kicked off our third season with an episode on 'Technosolutionism' ... please take a listen & subscribe!

www.buzzsprout.com/1301377

A grey poster with black writing and a pixelated hand pointing to the text.

Season three now starting! Education Technology Society - a critical podcast about digital education.

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Benjamin Andrew @benfictional.bsky.social · Sep 23

Frankie Focus is New York's mascot for phone-free schools, which is incredible but I feel like the design could have been work shopped a bit more.

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Kate Mannell @katemannell.bsky.social · Sep 22

Are you a PhD student whose work investigates digital technology in contexts of teaching and learning? Apply for our symposium! We are primarily seeking in-person presenters but have limited online slots available if you can't make it to Melbourne. More info: redi.deakin.edu.au/2025/09/call...

Call for Papers – HDR Symposium on Digital Technology and Education | Centre for Research for Educational Impact

Digital Technology and Education: Approaches, Industries, Practices The Learners in a Digital World research group at the Centre for Research for Educational Impact (REDI) is hosting a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Symposium on Friday 31 October 2025 at Deakin Downtown and online. The symposium aims to bring together PhD scholars whose research addresses digital […]

redi.deakin.edu.au

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Sep 21

technologically advance a band.

Rocket from the Crypto

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Civics of Technology @civicsoftech.bsky.social · Sep 21

Speaking of @neilselwyn.bsky.social, check out today's blog post with Adriana Szili sharing "New resources for teachers and student teachers: AI Dilemmas": www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/2dp8ng2...

Materials include posters, handouts, & slides to help reflect on real-world dilemmas of AI in edu.

Reposted by Neil Selwyn, Philip Bell

Charles Logan @charleswlogan.bsky.social · Sep 17

New @civicsoftech.bsky.social book club!

I'm leading a discussion of @neilselwyn.bsky.social's new book "Digital Degrowth: Radically Rethinking Our Digital Futures" on Tues, Nov 11, from 8-9pm ET. Dr. Selwyn will be joining us too.

Register at our events page: www.civicsoftechnology.org/events

A photograph of me holding the book "Digital Degrowth: Radically Rethinking Our Digital Futures" by Neil Selwyn.

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Sep 11

new podcast episode! Why does education keep falling for techno-solutionism, despite the fact that technology does not seem to drastically improve education? Listen to Dr. Ezechiel Thibaud talk through the perennial problem of 'techno-solutionism' in education ... www.buzzsprout.com/1301377/epis...

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · Sep 9

Literally the entire point of a tattoo is the human element and interaction.
Working with your tattoo artist, personalizing your designs, its all so intimate and rightly so. Thats what its all about!
Why do techbros try to ruin EVERYTHING?

One of the last places we might expect artificial intelligence to show up is the tattoo parlor, with its mix of artistry, personal expression and permanent ink. But a high-end ink shop in New York City is now taking appointments for an AI-driven tattoo robot.

The technology is the product of Blackdot, an Austin, Texas-based startup that has been pursuing a vision of autonomous, AI-fueled tattooing since 2019.

Blackdot—which has raised roughly $7 million from a combination of strategic and angel investors, crowdfunding and venture capital—says its device’s precision boosts predictability and reduces pain.

“There are people that are wondering if technology should make its way into the tattoo industry,” said founder Joel Pennington. “But that was what happened when Gutenberg came out with a printing press, and everyone thought that books should be handwritten.”

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Sep 5

🎙️ one of the great things about public broadcaster is having a half-hour radio program on the topics of "existential hope" & "digital degrowth" - very happy to have been involved!

Listen here: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Existential hope vs Existential Fear - ABC listen

Existential risks to human life abound, from the threat of nuclear Armageddon; to an uninhabitable planet; or an AI-induced apocalypse. Understanding such risks and how we can best respond to them is ...

www.abc.net.au

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Sep 1

new blog post: Thinking differently – rather than dismissively – about AI and education.

... excerpt from the final chapter of my still-being-written book on AI & Education (out late 2026?) ... criticaledtech.com/2025/09/02/t...

full quote: "perhaps the most disheartening aspect of the recent push for AI is how it devalues and debases the status of schools, teachers, students and everyone else involved in education. Any insistence that current forms of AI can improve education is an insistence that we accept a hollowed-out version of education that is routine, formulaic and utterly mindless. Seen in these terms, then, good teachers and students are those who always maximise their time, diligently respond to feedback and can be nudged to make correct decisions. Good education is simply a matter of repeatedly and efficiently doing the same things ‘at scale’. This is a robotic version of education that appeals to managerialists, consultants and tech-bros with little experience and/or interest in the unavoidable messiness of schools and classrooms. Much of the enthusiasm for ‘transforming education through AI’ is rooted in thinly-veiled contempt for the forms of education that we currently have. As Anthony Moser (2025) put it, “the makers of AI aren’t damned by their failures, they’re damned by their goals”."

Reposted by Neil Selwyn, Jacob T. Levy, Erol Akçay

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · Aug 27

I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.

I Am An AI Hater

I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.

anthonymoser.github.io

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Aug 26

"De onderzoekers formuleren het scherp: AI kan rekenen, maar geen oordelen vellen. Waar AI enkel rekent, brengen leerkrachten redeneren, reflecteren, verbeelden en empathie" - lerenhoezo.be/2025/08/21/w...

Wanneer de belofte van AI stopt: wat leerkrachten écht ervaren met generatieve AI

Leren.Hoe?Zo! wil jongeren, ouders en onderwijsprofessionals ondersteunen en inspireren om leren thuis en in de klas te versterken. Dit doen we door onze publicaties (boek voor leerkrachten en toolbox...

lerenhoezo.be

Reposted by Neil Selwyn

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · Jan 30

The people at CBECI were kind enough to send me a copy of their updated Bitcoin power consumption data

At the end of 2024, Bitcoin's total consumption for 2024 *did* end up matching that of Pakistan. 2024 saw the biggest jump in power consumption ever. Absolutely wild stuff ->

ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci

Global Bitcoin power consumption
120
2004
2023
3:14
Day of yuat

a chart showing Bitcoin's rising power consumption

Neil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · Aug 21

AI Dilemmas for Teachers - *free resources & posters* ... a set of high-def colour resources featuring real-life examples from our research on teachers' experiences of AI ...

Feel free to print off, share widely and use in your own professional learning sessions!

www.monash.edu/education/re...

blue poster with picture of robot teacher - title "AI dilemmas - real life examples from Australian teachers" - vignette and questions for use in professional learning sessions

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