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Also worked in edtech for many years and while I understand Audrey got the reputation for saying the negative, someone had to do it. The general media is so uncritically positive (for example of Knewton which was always snake oil). She had to be the voice of reason.

She addresses that point, perhaps with more snark than necessary:

Oh yes, I’m sure you can come up with some rousing successes and some triumphant moments that made you thrilled about the 2010s and that give you hope for “the future of education.” Good for you. But that’s not my job. (And honestly, it’s probably not your job either.)

She is going for point out the snake oil gimmicks that ed tech is known for these days. Most of it seems to be either composed of cash grabs for VC money or some sort of government grant money.

Are there any success stories in terms of learning outcomes? If schools are spending millions on this stuff to no benefit for the students, i don’t think that can be called a success.