Google for Education as an LMS: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Ethical Concerns?

Abstract

Educational technology companies hailed themselves as saviours during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Private Learning Management Systems (LMSs) like Google for Education or Microsoft Teams for Education saw their user base grow exponentially thanks to the open endorsement from governments worldwide. This governmental decision in education in response to unpreparedness to a full pivot to online learning enabled Edtech services to launch fast implementation to facilitate learning during this period. Google for Education rose to the challenge and has regularly updated its tools to reinforce its position. Yet a rushed and uncautious implementation of private LMSs can be seen as naive and short-sighted, given Alphabet Inc’s lack of ethical considerations regarding data privacy. In this paper, the rise of Google Workspace for Education as a solution to online learning is reviewed by two primary users/teachers with a holistic view of the prospective privacy and democratic issues. Furthermore, the benefits and concerns regarding the uncautious adoption of Edtech tools provided by companies with tarnished ethical records are discussed.