The rapid shift to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the penetration of an algorithmic world view into education systems around the world. Promoted by a burgeoning educational technology industry, platforms that use algorithms to structure and monitor teaching and learning have been presented as technical solutions to systemic problems. But they have also created new problems and reinforced existing inequities, stirring up public and political backlashes. Beyond its immediate effects during the pandemic in 2020, the expanded use of algorithm-driven learning management systems backed by major corporations has major implications for the future of global education.