More than 50% of primary and lower secondary school-aged children worldwide use Educational Technology (EdTech), but the quality and impact of these tools on children’s learning remain largely unknown. Despite calls from global agencies like the OECD for a coherent quality assurance system for digital education, there is currently no comprehensive method to holistically evaluate the impact of EdTech. How can we change this? How can we develop EdTech tools that truly advance learning—not just for a few, but for all children, globally?
Many efforts are underway. In the USA, the evidence-based EdTech movement has been mobilised by the ESSA standards, which require EdTech solutions to demonstrate a connection to published research and empirically verified evidence through controlled studies, quasi-experimental, and experimental studies. However, ESSA’s framework has its limitations: it often overlooks qualitative studies, contextual fit or replication of findings. The hierarchical arrangement of evidence it promotes does not work universally, underscoring the need for a more inclusive approach to evaluating EdTech solutions.
Other countries have been using more design- and pedagogy-oriented evaluations, like the evaluations guided by the Tulna EdTech standards, which pay close attention to broader issues around equity, ethics, and the contextual fit of a tool in classrooms. Accommodating diverse perspectives on evidence in evaluating technologies means including perspectives from multiple disciplines and international insights.
In the case of EdTech, multidisciplinary research should include perspectives from human-computer interaction scholars, UXD and LXD designers, learning scientists, curriculum specialists, and teacher training scholars.
In addition, international research should always be supplemented with local research: There is a lot of valuable research produced locally as reports and “grey literature” in local languages, which is essential for understanding the local context. Such research needs to be supplemented with insights from stakeholders across the EdTech ecosystem to be relevant and responsive. Here, in particular, it is crucial not to underestimate the importance of teachers in co-designing, building, and evaluating technology.
Importance of teachers
Traditionally, many EdTech companies have approached the industry with a business-to-business model, often sidelining teachers or using them solely as ambassadors or marketing staff. This creates a catch-22: excluding teachers from product co-design and evaluations means their capacity and knowledge to judge technology remain limited. And yet, EdTech can play a crucial role in ICT training and curriculum-aligned training. Indeed, the EdTech revolution could be a unique opportunity to align with the latest innovations and learning sciences, ultimately enhancing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, which they can apply when using EdTech tools or other resources.
Building partnerships with teachers, designers, and researchers is part of successful iRPD models—models that integrate Research, Practice, and Design in EdTech to make a true difference in how technologies innovate and scale. The goal in iRPD models is to ensure that EdTech quality is driven by a dialogue across multiple stakeholders and that innovation happens not only because of Edtech providers but also with ideas from researchers, teachers, and users themselves.
There are already some promising practices and initiatives promoting holistic approaches to such collective evidence-building. For example, the International Certification of Evidence of Impact in Education (Eduevidence.org) advocates for a comprehensive understanding of impact, by considering multiple aspects of an EdTech’s impact including its efficacy, effectiveness as well as ethics, equity and environment. More work needs to be done to ensure that that multiple views of various stakeholders are taken into account.
Growing the partnership industry
For cross-sectoral partnerships to happen, dialogue with those funding and incentivising the growth of the EdTech is key. In relation to evidence of impact specifically, working with policymakers and investors is essential. Many have pointed out that to increase the quality of EdTech offered to children, there is a need to align the incentives of those driving EdTech companies’ performance and demanding quick, scalable proof with those of teachers and researchers who take a different approach. Governments and policymakers need to create conditions where all EdTech companies, not just the big providers, can access research and quality design tools to innovate responsibly. Together, when these stakeholders bridge their silos and commit to genuine and ongoing collaboration, we can move closer to the goal of building impactful technology that truly enhances children’s learning.
Author: Natalia I. Kucirkova, Professor and Director, International Centre for EdTech Impact, Norway
