We have no wish to denigrate or criticize online distance education, but rather, the aim of this brief editorial is twofold. First, we want to raise a series of critical cautions, based on previous papers and special issues published in the journal, against simplistic and opportunistic claims that educational technologies are a ready-made remedy for the current crisis. Second, we want to issue a call for future research to examine, in up-close detail, the effects and consequences of the expansion and embedding of digital technologies and media in education systems, institutions and practices across the world. We don’t necessarily see these issues as new or unique to the pandemic, but they are currently being experienced more acutely and affectively by educators, students and parents around the world, from the early years through to higher education. 

Ben Williamson, Rebecca Eynon, john potter

Ben Williamson, Rebecca Eynon & John Potter (2020) Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices: digital technologies and distance education during the coronavirus emergency, Learning, Media and Technology, 45:2, 107-114, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2020.1761641