Inscription of power dynamics in platformized classrooms. Exploring coded spaces of platform architectures through Participatory Action Research

Platforms contribute to the ‘world-making’ of education; they play a co-constitutive role by envisioning and inscribing the functionalities anticipated in education. As programmable digital architectures, they both shape and are shaped by teachers’ and students’ practices. Building on two Action Research projects in German schools, the article concentrates on the reproduction of inequality within platformized classrooms. It uses the focus point of translation software usage to explore inscriptions into digital architectures. Analysing breakdowns of translation software usage among students who speak German as a second/foreign language, the article focuses on inscribed power dynamics within translation software, the mismatch between students’ practices and the imagined user, and the discrepancy between software logics and the educational setting. Discussing teachers’ invisible work, care and belonging in platformized education settings, the article highlights the epistemic inscriptions within technology. It describes how dataveillance and testing break down when students use translation software, thereby highlighting teachers’ shift towards creating a collective understanding. Lastly, the article discusses teachers’ autonomy within post-platform education by highlighting the limitations of currently available software products and software production.