Panel discussion: Navigating digital technologies in Australian schools

Australian schools are bursting with digital technologies. Digital platforms are used to enrol students, deliver learning content, and communicate with parents, and there is increasing use of facial recognition technologies and other ‘smart’ devices in classrooms.

How schools can inform their community about the technologies that are being used and the personal information they require to work has been an area of ongoing concern for both schools and education authorities.

In May 2025, educators, parents, and technology experts gathered for a seminar addressing the growing digitalisation of Australian schools.

Convened by Associate Professor Luci Pangrazio (Deakin University), the seminar was part of the Digital Child x ACMI seminar series – an event series that aims to bring together the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child with collaborators and partners outside the Centre, providing a public forum to discuss issues relating to digital childhoods.

The seminar focused on the integration of digital platforms and other digital technologies within schools, and the challenges these advancements pose for privacy and informed consent.

“We decided on this topic after working in schools and childcare centres,” said Associate Professor Pangrazio. “And realising how little support there is for educational institutions and educators to both know the data processing practices of third-party edtech products, and to [be able] to communicate these to the school community.”

“What we heard from our panellists was a range of challenges, tensions and issues that make this very difficult terrain.”

“The growing digitisation of schools and society has become a largely unquestioned part of education across the world, yet what are the implications of introducing these technologies into classrooms and asking students, parents and families to join up to the platforms?”

Panellists included Duane Cox (CIO of Schoolbox), Koren Irving (School Leader at St Joseph’s College, Geelong), Simon Elvery (parent and ABC journalist) and Associate Professor Anna Bunn (Digital Child, Curtin University), each bringing a unique perspective to the discussion around ‘Can schools achieve informed consent with digital technology?’.

L-R: Luci Pangrazio, Koren Irving, Simon Elvery, Duane Cox, Anna Bunn.