The Googlification of Public Schools

By Katrine K. Pedersen, PhD Fellow at the University of Copenhagen and author of  The Digital Influencable.

It has been seven years since Google turned its attention toward me after I highlighted an issue already affecting American students. It became evident during Christmas 2017, just as Danes were busy with holiday preparations. At that moment, the first signs appeared that this issue was starting to cross the Atlantic and find its way into Danish schools.

In just five years, Google became the dominant player in American schools by offering free apps and affordable laptops while bypassing school administrations and directly engaging teachers to promote their products.

During Christmas 2017, the Danish Data Protection Authority granted Hedensted Municipality permission to use Google’s school product suite—Apps for Education—for administration in the municipality's elementary schools. This decision marked a pivotal moment—a victory for the tech giant Google. Back then, I pointed this out, as there were already lessons to be learned from the U.S. experience. Google reached out to me, and as other colleagues who have tried to attract the attention of a tech giant will know, it’s not a particularly pleasant experience. The rest, as we know, is history: Google quickly became a dominant force in Danish elementary schools, with tools like Chromebooks, Docs, and G Suite for Education deeply integrated into classrooms (read more below)

Silicon Valley has driven this development for years. In a 2017 New York Times article about “how Google took over the classroom,” journalist Natasha Singer described it as a profound philosophical shift in the foundational principles of public education. She emphasized that "schools risk giving Google more than they get in return: a generation of future customers."

Since then, researchers have criticized Google for flaws in this model. In the article “Don’t Be Evil: Should We Use Google in Schools?” a group of scholars outlines several concerns stemming from the EdTech debate, recommending that “educators and scholars more closely interrogate the tools of Google and other technology companies to move toward more democratic and just uses of technology in schools.” Google's tools have faced criticism for shifting the focus of education away from traditional academic knowledge while ensuring the company secures access to future generations of consumers. By making its platforms an integral part of students’ education, Google fosters dependency on its ecosystem, making it difficult for individuals to escape its commercial grip later in life. These concerns are compounded by serious questions regarding data security and transparency: Could students’ information be used to build long-term user profiles?

For me, the critique then—and now—was about more than just technology. It was about the values and interests we want to shape our education system. Should public schools serve as testing grounds for global tech giants? Should students’ digital lives become commodities? And how can we ensure technology doesn’t hinder critical thinking but instead supports its development?

The Googlification of public schools raises concerns about both data security and educational values. As Natasha Singer concludes in her article “How Google Took Over the Classroom,” Google has initiated a philosophical reform in public education driven by market logic and commercial values. This approach prioritizes training children in skills like teamwork and problem-solving while downplaying traditional academic knowledge like math formulas. It places Google—and the tech economy—at the center of a century-long debate in American education: Should public schools produce knowledgeable citizens or skilled workers?

In recent years, Google has worked intensely to tailor its products and sales strategies to teachers and administrative staff while outperforming Apple and Microsoft. In the U.S., over half of public schools—more than 30 million children—use Google education apps like Gmail and Docs.

This trend also took hold in Danish elementary schools, where Google's products—such as Chromebooks, Docs, G Suite for Education, and Gmail—have been used for years. The company actively engages teachers worldwide through initiatives like Google Educator Groups and by offering free services and products. For example, in 2013, a school in Aarhus Municipality entered into a collaboration with Google Education Europe. Two schoolteachers from this partnership described their experiences with Google’s educational tools in an article titled "Google Chrome Provides Success in Teaching." The collaboration led Aarhus Municipality to recommend Google Apps for Education as a teaching tool in its schools. Thirty-two teachers were even given one day per week to function as resource persons for their colleagues using these tools.

Fast forward through the contentious history of Google and the Danish elementary school system to 2024. Thanks to individuals like Jesper Graugaard and researchers such as Lucas Cone, who have brought significant attention and scrutiny to the issue, real changes were initiated. By January 2024, 53 Danish municipalities were required to adjust their use of Google Workspace to comply with legal requirements. After months of negotiations, agreements were reached to ensure that student data would only be used for educational purposes and not for Google’s product development.

The Googlification of Public Schools - In 2007, we sold the school break to Apple, and by early 2018, we sold our children's education to Google. Published January 2018