The hidden data deal: what do free EdTech platforms actually cost FE colleges?
Many further education colleges use free versions of major technology platforms without examining the terms carefully. Researchers and data protection officers say the trade-off is rarely what it seems.
By Wistl Editorial · · FE / Training
Many further education colleges rely on platforms from major technology companies that are provided at no financial cost to the institution. Email and productivity suites, video conferencing tools, learning management systems and AI assistants are all available in free or deeply subsidised versions for the education sector. The incentive structures behind these offers are not always transparent to the institutions that accept them. Free platforms generate value for their providers through data. User behaviour, content creation patterns, administrative workflows and, in some cases, the content