On the Global Education Monitoring Report 2023

From the promotion of magic lanterns in the early 20th century to the rise of information and communications technology, the use of technology in education has come a long way. The purpose of making mass learning more appealing, widespread, stimulating and accessible to all has been the guiding principle of education technologies. However, in the last 40 years, there has been a rapid shift in the relationship of technology and education, and an unprecedented scale of this transformation was witnessed due to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 onwards.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s report titled “Global Education Monitoring Report 2023: Technology in Education—A Tool on Whose Terms?” takes stock of these developments in the last four decades. This comprehensive review covers issues concerning equality, technology discourse, sustainability, and evidence-based learning impacts for learners across age groups. But it also goes beyond the concerns of the formal learning and educational set-up to discuss definitions of a digitally skilled person, information literacy, and the need for a secure and productive participation in digital environments as citizens.