Page 59 - Education in a Digital World

46 International Organisations

prime driving force and as a model for its imitators or partners elsewhere” (Levidow
2002, p.234). From this latter perspective, although the educational motivations and
interests of SNOs and IGOs are varied and extensive, many could be said to follow
a neo-liberal, human capital perspective in terms of how “the world’s wealthy
nations need to educate their populations for competition in the global knowledge
economy” (Spring 2009, p.58).
Yet from whatever perspective they are approached, it is important to understand
the educational activities and agendas of these SNOs and IGOs in a nuanced and
heterogeneous manner that acknowledges the differences between them. While a
dominant strand of the World Bank educational agenda has certainly been the
pursuit of ‘reform agendas’ of privatisation, deregulation and commercialisation of
education (Levidow 2002, Bergeron 2008), the OECD could be said to have pur-
sued a slightly less interventionist approach towards education, noticeably con-
centrating on the measurement and commensurability of educational systems in
terms of their efficiency and high-skills nature. Moreover, the educational interests
of an organisation focused on humanitarianism and security-related concerns such as
the United Nations, for instance, may also privilege issues such as “educating global
citizens committed to sustainable development; sustain and protect cultures and
languages; gender equality; activist citizen[s]” (Spring 2009, p.81). The actions of
all these organisations are therefore imbued with varying perspectives on what
education is, and what education is for.
A key question to consider in the terms of our own discussion, then, is the
extent to which these interests and agendas are replicated in the educational
technology activities of the world’s major IGOs and SNOs. In this sense, it is first
important to recognise that the use of digital technology has long been a
significant element of the educational activities of these organisations. Indeed,
intergovernmental organisations such as the World Bank, OECD and United
Nations have all been prominent advocates of educational technology since the
1980s and have played a substantial collective role in initiating and influencing
the implementation of educational technology around the world. As Joel Spring
(2009, p.48) describes in relation to the activities of the World Bank throughout
the 2000s:

Given the goal of preparation for the knowledge economy, the World
Bank emphasises the classroom use of computers and resources from the
internet. ICT allows the adaptation of globally available information to local
learning situations … It is important to highlight that a large percentage of
the World Bank’s education funds are used for the purchase of educational
technology. Critics might complain that this channels large sums of money to
be used for education to multinational producers of computers and educa-
tional software. On the other hand ICT is vital for education to enter the
knowledge economy … It is estimated that between 1997 and 2001 that [sic]
75 per cent of the World Bank-financed education projects included ICT,