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Expanding on the topic of  “emergency remote teaching”, many schools have availed themselves of commercial software developed by the Edutech industry which is currently experiencing a considerable boom in business as a result of widespread school closures.

With over 1.2 billion children now participating in e-learning, the worldwide education market is currently glutted with options. Even before the current crisis, the overall market for online education was expected to reach $350 Billion by 2025.

Due to the abrupt switch to online teaching which has caught many schools and teachers off-guard, it is no wonder that quick solutions have been embraced with some alacrity. However, caution is advised if we don’t want to see what author, activist and journalist Naomi Klein calls disaster capitalism.  Concerns regarding the use commercial education software have been aired many times over the years and in this time of crisis, the use of untested, unvetted products is a real risk.  “Innovation grants”, often with contingent requirements,  offered by companies such as Salesforce, Netflix or Facebook could significantly influence how education policy is decided.