In school one of my favourite poems was by Adrian Mitchell, entitled ‘To Whom it May Concern’, it centred around the refrain ‘Tell me lies about Vietnam‘. It came to mind this week, when I read Audrey Watters’ post The Stories We Were Told about Education Technology. So here, for a bit of fun, and in appreciation of all the work Audrey has done over the years, is a remix of Mitchell’s poem for ed tech. Don’t tell me it doesn’t scan, I did it in 10 minutes, okay?

I was run over by AI one day.
Ever since the accident I’ve walked this way
So suck up all my data
Tell me lies about Edtech.
Heard Alexa screaming with pain,
Couldn’t find my iphone so I went back to sleep again
So fill my ears with bitcoin
Suck up all my data
Tell me lies about Edtech.
Every time I shut my eyes all I see is VR games.
Made a blockchain and I entered all the names
So coat my Google glasses with butter
Fill my ears with bitcoin
Suck up all my data
Tell me lies about EdTech.
I smell something burning, hope it’s just my mindfullness
They’re only selling guns and safety vests
So stuff my nose with grit
Coat my Google glasses with butter
Fill my ears with bitcoin
Suck up all my data
Tell me lies about Edtech.
Where were you at the time of the MOOCs?
Down by the library reading e-books
So chain my tongue with analytics
Stuff my nose with grit
Coat my Google glasses with butter
Fill my ears with bitcoin
Suck up all my data
Tell me lies about Edtech.
You put your algorithms in, you put your ethics out,
You take the human teacher and you twist it all about
So scrub my skin with Facebook
Chain my tongue with analytics
Stuff my nose with grit
Coat my Google glasses with butter
Fill my ears with bitcoin
Suck up all my data
Tell me lies about Edtech.

Here is the powerful original: