Government and technology

In addition to all these potent reasons for continuing to think of education technology as apolitical there is a further reason, located in the neo-liberal notions of individualism and rationality. Given the assumption that rational individuals seek their own self interest, the obligation of government is limited to the provision of an environment in which, technically, it is possible for individuals to do this.

If education can be produced as a cheap instrument by which inclusion can be offered to all, then further failure to achieve inclusion can be constructed as failure of the failed to engage this opportunity. The precise nature of or reason for this failure is politically beside the point, although it may provide endless material for educational speculation and research. There is therefore a considerable amount to be gained, politically, by insisting on the non-political, the instrumental nature of educational technology.