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Emerging technologies in global education

Exploring impactful, efficient, ethical, and equitable uses of technology for greater access to quality education and career opportunities

A young girl views the world through a virtual reality headset. (Photo credit: Shutterstock / Thanadon88)

The continued emergence of new technologies in education, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI), challenges education policymakers as they seek to understand and make decisions about how best to deploy educational technologies (edtech) effectively, efficiently, equitably, and at scale, to ensure that all learners have access to quality educational opportunities.

While it has improved over the past decade, the edtech sector still suffers from a shallow base of rigorous academic research, and much of the research that does exist focuses on the use of educational technologies by, and to the benefit of, communities of privilege, especially in highly industrialized nations of North America, Europe, and East Asia. While new technologies may expand opportunities for many learners, they also risk leaving many communities and individuals behind.

In the Center for Universal Education, housed in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings, we are working to make the emerging global knowledge base in this area more accessible to decisionmakers and other interested parties. Here we aim to summarize and analyze the best of academic research and emerging expert practitioner experience, with particular attention to emerging opportunities, risks and challenges related to AI and other new technologies in education, equity, and opportunities for scale.

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