Center for Responsible Educational Technology

Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg

Digitalization has far-reaching consequences for how learning is made possible, education is conducted, and knowledge developed...

Center for Responsible Educational Technology is one of the largest research groups focused on educational technology in the Nordic region and a significant voice in the international field of Information Technology and Learning. The members study how information technology transforms learning, education, and knowledge creation in individual, organizational, and societal contexts. By integrating research with educational activities, CREDtech ensures that insights have impact on policy and practice in schooling, higher education, professional development, and lifelong learning.

When is educational technology responsible?

Many of the challenges facing education could be helped through technological solutions, but the details of how a solution is designed and integrated, and when it is used make the difference between helping and making things worse. At CREDtech, we take critical, practice, and design orientations in our research to inform the ways that emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can responsibly address grand challenges facing schooling, higher education, professional development, and lifelong learning.

Teacher shortage

Almost all EU countries are predicting significant teacher shortages by 2035 at all levels of education. Already in Sweden, nearly 30% of those teaching in compulsory schooling lack qualifications (Education & Training Monitor 2023).

Increasing demand

Recent years have seen a trend toward increasing demand for lifelong learning in the EU. In 2021, almost 35% of adults in Sweden reported recent engagement in lifelong learning activities, up from 26% in 2011 (Eurostat 2021).

Unequal outcomes

Rates of underachievement are increasing. Comparing 2012 and 2022 results, disparities in educational outcomes and numbers of students with special needs are growing in Sweden (Comparative analysis of PISA, 2024).

Enivronmental limits

Digital solutions in education aren't the environmentally sound choice they were once seen to be. Driven by data centers and AI, the IT sector’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions is projected to exceed 14 % by 2040 (ITU 2024).

Algorithmic opacity

Over 60 % of AI systems used in education can be classified as 'black boxes' with neither transparent nor explainable decision making processes, raising concerns about trust, accountability, and fairness (OECD 2023).

Platform dependency

More than  90 % of schools in OECD countries rely on commercial digital platforms like learning management systems raising questions about data ownership and 'lock-in' effects (OECD 2023)..

Broken knowledge ecologies

AI-produced and curated material increasingly dominates digital sources undermining innovation, cultural richness, and social trust (Peterson 2025).

Shortened skill life cycles

Technical skills are becoming obsolete at almost twice the rate they were a decade ago making continuous reskilling essential for learners and professionals alike (World Economic Forum 2025).

Dehumanization

The rapid growth of digital surveillance and algorithmic decision making risks disrupting the relational and human dimensions of education (ACLU 2023).

Educational technology innovation in context

The pace of technological innovation is quick with new educational technologies arriving contantly while others fall out of favour. At CREDtech, we set technological innovation in context by understanding the histories that have led to the latest arrivals. Our focus is on producing knowledge in relation to the lineages of development and application that are most relevant to education, such as the technologies of automation, scale, simulation, and presence.

Automation

Scale

Simulation

Presence

Gothenburg Knowledge Lab

Established in 2010, Gothenburg Knowledge Lab is a space for educational design-oriented development work. This work is done partly in collaboration with schools in the region, but primarily with a focus on educational activities at the university. In addition to working with development-oriented projects, Knowledge Lab is also an important resource for CREDtech research.