Perplexity’s CEO is just the latest tech leader to tell the public their jobs will be sacrificed on the altar of the glorious AI future. It’s a compelling narrative, but it distracts us from the real impact of AI: not to take the human out of the loop, but to take away their power and cut their pay

Sacrifice your job for the glorious AI future

How tech CEOs use the threat of job loss to distract from how AI is really used against workers

disconnect.blog

"As researchers, we are trained to interpret, to theorize, and to draw connections... Yet, when I returned to Buntong and sat with my old life, it raised the question of what is lost when lived realities are subsumed under explanatory frameworks..." pravinbalakrishnan.substack.com/p/fieldwork-...

Fieldwork Fragments: When the Researcher Meets the Self

Doing a PhD in the social sciences means you’re spending most of your time in front of the screen.

pravinbalakrishnan.substack.com

Be like IOE and all the other universities, who will say we should stop rankings, but then will parade their rankings.

UCL Institute of Education@ioe.bsky.social · 7mo ago

#1 for Education! @ucl.ac.uk is 1st for the 13th year running in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026. Thank you to our dedicated staff, students, alumni and partners for making UCL the best in the world for researching and studying Education. #QSWUR #WeAreIOE

These past 5 months, I’ve been working on my PhD. Mostly alone. Sketching, writing, revising, editing. Cutting things out, adding new ideas in. Deleting entire passages, only to rewrite a single sentence. Then sketching again.

If there’s one conference I’ve been waiting to present, it’s the @civicsoftech.bsky.social Conference. Today, I’m both nervous and excited to share my work: ‼️ Resisting Creatively: A Card-Based Futures Workshop with Teacher Communities! Let’s see what futures we can (re)imagine!

Wrapping up the 1st week of my fieldwork in Malaysia, I reflect on what is education in today's world, thinking as a gardener! "The time-honored processes of teaching and learning, which once took root and matured over seasons, now face pressure to produce results instantly." shorturl.at/rkdhi

Reflections from the fieldwork: What is education?

As I wrap up the first week of my fieldwork in Malaysia, I reflect on what is education in today's world - trying to think from the lens of a gardener.

shorturl.at

Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought that complying with authoritarian demands would protect their independence. It didn’t—and history is warning us again. 🔗 theconversation.com/universities... #AcademicFreedom #HigherEd #Authoritarianism #DEI #TheConversation

Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence

Before the Nazis, German universities were among the best in the world. Step by step, the universities gave up their independence until they were instruments of the state.

theconversation.com

shorturl.at/VIgS0 A must read article by @isilova.bsky.social! "When universities start regulating not just what they say but what they teach, support and stand for – driven by fear rather than principle – they are no longer just reacting to political threats, they are internalizing them."

Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence

Before the Nazis, German universities were among the best in the world. Step by step, the universities gave up their independence until they were instruments of the state.

theconversation.com

Education is powerful. The same education that craft narratives to colonize minds by designating humans into hierarchies of superiority and inferiority, has the potential to unravel the shackles of imposed identities. Education is a delicate dance of knowledge & power.

New book chapter out on Educational Cooperation in an Era of Deglobalization with tavis jules, Aleta Garrett and Abigail Smith! The chapter explored reimagining educational cooperation in the Caribbean and I provided input on the theoretical aspects for this chapter!

After 2 years serving as the Communications Chair at @gesigcies.bsky.social, it is finally time to say goodbye! I learned so much from this opportunity and quite happy with how we did! Here are some milestones I will hold close to my heart as someone who worked behind in the shadows:

Growing up here in Buntong, we had very little, but I know my parents did everything that they could so we could uplift ourselves from poverty and the streets. The days of unknowingly running drugs as kids, scavenging from garbage, and doing odd jobs, it all feels like a dream.

Past 2 weeks have been very tough, particularly with my father's death on 26 Feb. Even contemplated to drop out of the PhD. Thanks for all supportive messages, though none I've replied. But then, here comes this email, reminding me that I still have a purpose to fulfil.

In what should have been the most intellectually stimulating time of my life, this PhD journey has become the most painful. Loss after loss—my cousin, my niece, my aunt, my brother, and now my father—has left me drowning in grief. I've lost my interest, my spirit, and my light.

Organizing my first ever online conference, please consider registering for the conference!

Globalization & Education SIG of CIES@gesigcies.bsky.social · 2y ago

📢 Join us for the INECS 2025 Online Conference! 📅 Mac 3-4, 2025 | 🖥️ Online 🔹 31 presentations | 10 panels Topics include: 🌱 Climate Change 🎓 HE & Mobility 📚 Inequalities ...and more! 📝Registration Link: forms.gle/vPNzZho4M8z7... Abstract Book: shorturl.at/yCEf9

Very happy to have joined the Bristol edition of the Critical Studies of Education and Technology (CSET)! Loads of generative discussions and things to think about. I like the fact EdTech wasn't immediately discarded as 'evil', rather how can we envision an EdTech for good!

Globalization & Education SIG of CIES@gesigcies.bsky.social · 2y ago

Illuminating time at Bristol #CSET2025! Led by @lyndsayg.bsky.social, we explored 4 key questions on EdTech: 🔹 Pressing questions & research approaches 🔹 Social harms of Edtech in education 🔹 The political economy—Big Tech, policy 🔹 Grounds for hope in EdTech Lots of thought-provoking sharing!

In 2024, I attended three physical conferences: CESE, ECER, & BAICE. These spaces and the experiences shaped me—not just as an emerging scholar, but as a person. Read my 1st reflection from CESE titled 'Academic Acrobatics & Scholarly Shadows' Link: shorturl.at/Prl8M

Academic Acrobatics and Scholarly Shadows: Weaving reflections from CESE 2024

In the summer of 2024, I participated in the CESE 2024 conference in Thessaloniki and was immediately fascinated by the community and the generative discussions. Attending my first CESE conference …

shorturl.at

If you know any ECRs who would benefit from this event, please share this with them! This webinar is open for all!

Globalization & Education SIG of CIES@gesigcies.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨Join our first ever Career Paths Webinar organized under the INECS initiative! Happening on 13th of Feb! 5pm CET onwards Featuring 3 academics from Europe, North America, and South America -- Joanna Leek, Frank Adamson, and Felicitas Acosta! Register: shorturl.at/NTVPR

Students from Belgrade now marching to Novi Sad (about 100 kilometers by foot), where they will arrive before February 1, to mark the three-month anniversary of the canopy collapse. #students #serbia

Studenti iz Beograda upravo kreću peške za Novi Sad! Prenos uživo! Podelite

YouTube video by Politicki Globus Srbije

youtube.com

Jelena Brankovic@jelena3121.bsky.social · 2y ago

Students say having the president take justice into his own hands is “useless”. They demand a functioning system, with transparent institutions working according to the rule of law. Finally, decent text on the protests in #Serbia @theguardian.com Explains also why PM resigning is far from enough.

🚨Major Announcement! Pls circulate! 📢 Calling all early career scholars (also MA & PhD)! Submit your 300-word abstract for The Globalization & Education Online Conference 2025! 🌍💡 📝 Abstract Deadline: Jan 18, 2025 🔗 Submit here: forms.office.com/e/npe9pTB7au Conference Date: 4th of March 2025

Got a signed copy of this amazing book from @madianou.bsky.social! With the current age we are in, this is a must read for everyone doing work in tech!

Globalization & Education SIG of CIES@gesigcies.bsky.social · 2y ago

If you're doing research on #technology, then this is a must read! Last night at @madianou.bsky.social book launch at @lsemedia.bsky.social We believe this will be 1 of the most important books in 2025 as we are seeing this concept of #technocolonialism emerging across various disciplines.

Thanks to NORRAG for publishing my latest blog! Drawing on Margaret Atwood’s notion of Ustopia, I argue that grassroot movements offer rich and insightful alternatives to the utopian visions promoted by IOs! Big thanks to Maren Elfert for making this happen! www.norrag.org/towards-usto...

Towards Ustopia - NORRAG -

In this blogpost, Pravin Balakrishnan, drawing on Margaret Atwood’s notion of Ustopia, argues that grassroot movements offer rich and insightful alternatives to the utopian visions promoted by interna...

norrag.org

⏰Get your tickets today! Join @davidstaley8.bsky.social @tanner-mirrlees.bsky.social Darren Moon and @jkom.bsky.social on Dec 11th at 1:00 p.m. (GMT) for our next online seminar “The reshaping of #HigherEd by #DigitalTech”. 🔗Register here ▶ shorturl.at/ifwnA #HigherEducation #Digitalisation #AI

We are at this event today - Responding to ‘Scholasticide’ in #Gaza: The Role of the UK International Education and Training Community! What a great way to start our Bluesky postings. Let's go!

This is a fantastic initiative that has been set up by Taawon to help University students in Gaza to complete their degrees through distance learning. 🇵🇸 💚 Please share and donate if you can: taawon.org/en/isnad

Fantastic that a larger convivial community is growing here. Still seeking more skyers from Majority countries, interested in resistance to big tech in HE, digital inequality everywhere, public good, HE for good.....

ICYMI - Feel free to join us this 13th of November for an hybrid symposium on global governance of education with emerging scholars! Link to register: shorturl.at/9CTNO

📢 HELLO! We're thrilled to launch the Glasgow Comparative and International Education Research (GLACIER) Network here on LinkedIn! 📺 We have a range of external and internal activities planned for 2024-2025, so stay tuned for more! #GlasgowIntCompEd

Doing critical research on edtech, one of the major influences on our education systems? Wondering where to present it and help build a research community? Maybe this new critical edtech studies conference is for you www.de.ed.ac.uk/news/call-ab...

I wrote something and it got published on BAICE! baice.ac.uk/hub/towards-... I am playing with this idea of ustopia...

Towards Ustopia

In her opening speech ‘The imperative of the future’ at the UKFIET 2023 Conference, two key arguments in relation to a just education stood out from Maria Balarin. First…

baice.ac.uk