About ETTOL

Why I founded ETTOL

I founded ETTOL because I believe the technology used in education should improve every learner's education and wellbeing. Understanding who benefits, who might be disadvantaged and who can intervene needs to be part of how we judge these tools.

Who I am

I'm Victoria Hedlund, founder of GenEd Labs, an AI bias and pedagogy researcher, and an artist. I'm sometimes called "The AI Bias Girl". My background spans physics, classroom teaching, teacher education, fine art and climate-dynamics research at Oxford. Alongside my lived experience of neurodiversity, these experiences shape my interest in how people learn, create and make sense of the world.

What I look at

Across my work, I'm interested in what remains human as AI impacts our agency and definition of what it means to be human. In education, that includes the relationships, creativity and professional judgement that shape a learner's experience. For ETTOL this impacts what decisions are being handed to a system, and what understanding and responsibility remain with the people using it.

My research looks at the emergent behaviour of tools, the assumptions built into them and their suitability for education. I'm interested in their long-term effects on attainment, wellbeing, identity formation and consequently life chances. Differences in the explanations, feedback or expectations a learner encounters are important, particularly when they happen repeatedly and the adults responsible cannot see them.

What ETTOL does

ETTOL, The EdTech Transparency & Oversight Leaderboard, is part of that work. It examines what providers publicly document about their tools, giving educators and families information they can use to question decisions and exercise oversight. I want it to hold companies accountable and help support those working in the sector to improve.

How ETTOL is funded

I run ETTOL through GenEd Labs, a social enterprise. Paid consultancy, training and other commissioned work fund the organisation, including its independent research and vast amounts of tokens I burn through! I want to model the values ETTOL uses, so any consultancy relationships with assessed companies are disclosed, and every company receives its draft entry for factual comment.

The wider work

ETTOL sits within a wider commitment to help the people who teach, care for and make decisions about learners understand the technology involved and retain the judgement and confidence to challenge it. The question running through that work is: who is left out?