Over the years, I’ve served on edtech committees, adopted numerous technologies in support of teaching and learning, and even been the consultant providing expert advice to a University who was in the middle of a key decision making process. Through all these roles I’ve held in my career in edtech, I’ve often wondered how the process differs from institution to institution, how often efficacy research is being used to make those purchasing decisions, and why there isn’t some centralized repository of the findings from each institution that could be accessed by others when needed. I’ve recently joined the research team that is working on finding answers to these questions.
The EdTech Efficacy Research Academic Symposium will be held in May 3-4, 2017 in Washington, DC hosted by University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, Digital Promise, and the Jefferson Education Accelerator. In advance of that symposium, working groups have formed that will explore different areas of research including:
A: The role of research in K12 District decision making
B: The role of research in HigherEd decision making
C: Research spending and the most popular edtech products
D: Evidence and quality of efficacy in research approaches
E: Institutional competence in evaluating efficacy research
F: Investors & Entrepreneurs
G: The goals and roles of federal funding for EdTech research
H: Education philanthropies
I: EdTech user voice
J: Crowdsourcing efficacy research and product reviews
I’ve joined working group B: The role of research in HigherEd decision making. We are focused on learning more about how decisions are made in institutions of higher education regarding the acquisition and use of educational technology to support teaching and learning. What sources of information are leaders currently using in decision-making, and what role does research play in decision-making?
What questions do you have about the role of research in edtech decision making? I’m really curious…