Alternative sociodigital futures of education: Emerging seeds of resistance against profit-driven futures

This document is a compilation of information on educational initiatives and organisations whose work challenges the prevailing direction of educational futures, which is largely shaped by economic interests and profit-driven motives. We call these initiatives ‘seeds’, as they represent emerging work that intends
to grow alternative futures, responding to local concerns and the hopes of students and educational communities. The compilation represents a response to the invitation to recognise the work of activists, scholars, and developers who are reimagining sociodigital futures of education in ways that empower communities to nurture socially just futures (Williamson et al., 2023; Sriprakash et al., 2024; CSET collective, 2025).
We explore 12 organisations that offer thought-provoking examples of how civil society is actively shaping local practices for futures in which technologies interact respectfully with the values and rights of students and wider educational communities. The cases are explored following four areas of their work: (1) the
overall concerns for technology in education that they address; (2) their aims and range of work; (3) their research projects and partnerships; and (4) the values driving their work.
Finally, we present some reflections on the roles of different social actors in protecting and growing these seeds. We explore how academics, policymakers, and broader society can create partnerships working towards sociodigital futures of education that respond to the situated needs of communities.