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In the past year, COVID-19 abruptly disrupted schooling, and forced the question of\u00a0how much kindergarten to Grade 12 education should or will rely on online teaching in the near and distant future<\/a>. Education has taken a decided technological turn in its massive adaptation to online learning. This is precipitating a critical debate in education right now, with a most uncertain future and much depending on its outcome.<\/p>\n One key concern when considering both online learning and the tech platforms teachers may rely on in classrooms is a long-standing issue of how education should accommodate student individuality. For at least 150 years, education in the western world has been\u00a0conflicted over this issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Education advocates like homeschooling champion\u00a0Charlotte Mason<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0education reformer John Dewey<\/a>\u00a0advocated for recognition of students as unique persons whose interests and backgrounds shaped them in particular ways. Writing in 1897, Dewey argued it was\u00a0critical for educators to note and consider students\u2019 unique qualities when designing curriculum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mason\u2019s and Dewey\u2019s philosophies and the schooling approaches they advocated helped spur\u00a0educational debates about the meaning of \u201cpersonalized learning.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0These also pitted them against others like scientific management guru\u00a0Frederick Taylor<\/a>\u00a0who argued for mass standardization in education.<\/p>\n This conflict remains central to education debates unfolding today. For example, while some proponents of remote learning argue\u00a0teachers can still offer personalized learning online<\/a>, there are also industries focused on the notion that\u00a0AI can also \u201cpersonalize\u201d student experiences<\/a>. But machines aren\u2019t persons.<\/p>\n Emerging research\u00a0shows wide variability in student experiences<\/a>\u00a0across technology-based approaches and platforms. Even when particular teachers\u2019 are successful in delivering remote learning with students\u2019 personal\u00a0and holistic interests<\/a>\u00a0in mind, they are working in an educational context with\u00a0increased marketing, uptake and profiting from educational technologies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Specific tech \u201csolutions\u201d like buying particular software for schools are often \u201cTaylorist\u201d insofar as the school or classroom is now committed to particular way of interacting and learning. In some cases\u00a0school communities come to complain that personal contact has been replaced with computerization<\/a>.<\/p>\n Technology surely has a role in education, but determining what it will be, and whose interests it will really serve, is a critical public debate. To this end, here are three thinkers who can help guide parents, educators and administrators in considering how education can adapt to changing technological circumstances while centering students as people and fostering caring human communities.<\/p>\n1. Nel Noddings<\/strong><\/h4>\n