This story has been updated.
Seven leading education technology organizations鈥攊ncluding the and the 鈥攁谤别 a deluge of education technology products and applications.
The organizations collaborated to articulate a single set of key factors districts should consider in evaluating ed-tech tools, such as safety and usability.
They aim to create a one-stop resource educators can use to quickly determine which products and applications have been examined and recommended by reputable, independent reviewers. (ISTE, for instance, offers a seal on technology applications that meet its standards.)
Many districts don鈥檛 have the manpower to carefully 鈥攐r fully get their arms around the thousands of programs they鈥檙e already using.
Districts around the country accessed an average of 2,739 distinct ed-tech tools during the 2023-24 school year, , an ed-tech company. And that number may grow as developers create artificial intelligence-powered tools for classrooms.
鈥淭he goal here is take the burden off of schools,鈥� said Richard Culatta, ISTE鈥檚 CEO, in an interview. 鈥淎n ed-tech company can鈥檛 validate itself. It can鈥檛 be like, 鈥榃e checked. We鈥檙e good.鈥� [They] have to be validated by a credible third party.鈥�
Dealing with a myriad of district quality-review processes can also be a headache for companies, because they want to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of their products and platforms as efficiently as possible, the organizations behind the effort contend.
The 5 elements of a quality product or service
In addition to ISTE and CoSN, the organizations behind the effort include , , , and the or SETDA.
Together, they have decided that quality ed-tech products must be:
- Safe, so they protect students鈥� and teachers鈥� personal data;
- Evidence-based or grounded in sound research;
- Inclusive, and accessible to a broad range of students;
- Usable, so they鈥檙e teacher-and-student friendly; and
- Interoperable, so they easily connect with other school technology.
When it comes to the quality of ed-tech tools, 鈥渨e are agreeing that there are five elements that we need to be talking about and we鈥檙e going to call them the same thing,鈥� Culatta said. 鈥淭hat alone is giving a level of clarity both to schools, and to the industry, that they have not had ever until this point.鈥�
The organizations will also create a clearinghouse, where educators can see whether a particular tool has been validated by an organization with expertise in each of these five areas.
The effort comes at a key moment. Educators need to be more deliberate and discerning in purchasing education technology, because schools are up against the final deadlines for spending federal COVID relief cash, Culatta said.
The end of that funding鈥攚hich helped pay for Internet connectivity and digital learning tools in many districts鈥斺�渇orces us to up our game a bit鈥� in evaluating ed tech, Culatta said.
During the rapid pivot to virtual learning spurred by the pandemic, many educators embraced tech tools that 鈥渕aybe weren鈥檛 ready for prime time, maybe weren鈥檛 the best that they needed to be,鈥� Culatta said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to really double down on the stuff that鈥檚 really working well, that鈥檚 really making an impact. And if it鈥檚 not, we shouldn鈥檛 be spending money. We shouldn鈥檛 be putting it in front of kids.鈥欌��
