This chapter explores the methodological challenges of studying future imaginaries in education and introduces a revised model of future workshops to address these difficulties. Based on workshops with representatives from the EdTech sector, research institutions, and educational policy organizations in Sweden and Estonia on the theme ‘The Classroom of 2040’, the study examines the interplay between sociotechnical imaginaries, collectively held visions about how (new) technology can solve current problems and contribute to societal progression, and the participants own imaginations about what the future of education could or should be. The workshops facilitated a process that moved from a mapping of dominant educational imaginaries to critical reflection and the co-creation of alternative, postdigital futures. This approach can be used to understand how sociotechnical imaginaries are materialized in educational technologies and policies while also revealing the tensions and negotiations involved in this process. By engaging influential stakeholders from the EdTech and education sector, the workshops model also highlights the potential of experimental and participatory methods to facilitate dialogue and collaboration between different actors that can inform future development in education.

This study discusses how representatives of the EdTech sector and stakeholders within the field of educational policy in Sweden and Estonia imagine the classroom of the future and the role of digital technologies in these visions. Based on material from a series of future workshops where a total of nine groups gathered to discuss future school development, the study analyzes the sociotechnical imaginaries of education present in each country and the logics underpinning the datafication of the education sector. The results show that participants in both countries highlight datafication as a means to achieve a more individualized educational system, but they also identify tensions between this vision and another common imaginary of a school with diverse learning environments and teaching methods. The study also discusses national differences in the material and how they reflect the educational politics in each country where Estonia uses digitalization to strengthen its national identity as a modern and innovative tech nation, whereas in Sweden there is a growing tendency to question the effects of digital technologies on students’ well-being and cognitive development. These findings contribute to critical research on the datafication of schooling by offering a deeper understanding of the relation between national and global imaginaries of educational futures. © Författarna.