Research Spotlights
Research Spotlight pieces are written by various contributing authors and reviewed by two academics in the EdTech field: Dr. Helen Crompton, Associate Professor of Instructional Technology Director of the Virtual Reality Lab and Director of the Technology Enhanced Learning Lab (TELL) at Old Dominion University and John Traxler, FRSA, Professor of Digital Learning in the Institute of Education at the University of Wolverhampton. Both Dr. Crompton and Professor Traxler are members of the mEducation Alliance. If you are interested in submitting a research activity to highlight in a future mEducation Alliance publication, please fill out this form.
Brookings Report - Realizing the promise: How can education technology improve learning for all?
Written by: Kimberlee Trageser, Harvard University
Emiliana Vegas, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution, along with her colleagues, Alejandro J. Ganimian and Frederick M. Hess are working to improve learning for all students by harnessing the potential and power of education technology. Technology has dramatically impacted many traditional industries and there was a hope that technology could do the same for education and create opportunities for low-cost, high-quality education around the globe. But education technologies have not lived up to that promise. Today there is still rampant and expanding inequality of education. The researchers decided to look at the evidence with a new lens– that of how people learn– in order to make key recommendations for improving education for all learners. Their work is synthesized in the report Realizing the promise: How can education technology improve learning for all?
Evidence shows four key ways in which technology can serve to advance education: 1) Scaling up quality instruction, such as through prerecorded quality lessons; 2) Facilitating differentiated instruction, such as through computer-adaptive learning; 3) Expanding opportunities to practice; and 4) Increasing learning engagement thorough videos and games.
However, there is no one-size-fits-all miracle intervention because every learner and every school system is different. Thus, this report aims to serve as a guide for ministers of education, particularly in low-income and developing countries, and other similar stakeholders to help them plan and think through the data that matters to make informed and effective decisions about investing in and implementing technology for learning. First, these leaders must have a detailed understanding of their specific contexts including an understanding of the infrastructure, the needs of their students, and an articulation of clear goals for the use of technology. Additionally, attitudes of teachers and families within their systems, as well as their experience and familiarity with technology, can also deeply affect the impact of technology and so must be fully analyzed in order to be successful.
The report relies mostly on secondary data and reviews the evidence on edtech interventions from 37 studies in 20 countries to find what works. The research team was also able to conduct some primary interviews with Ministers of Education before COVID-19 hit and plan to get back out in the field as soon as possible to continue their work. The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, created “a new urgency for the need to integrate technology and has helped accelerate the adoption of technology by teachers and parents who might have been resistant in the past,” Vegas says. However, due to the rapid nature of this adoption, leaders have not had the time to think through the evidence of what is most effective for learners when making decisions. Vegas suggests that building in mechanisms for evaluation from the start of the implementation stage can help school and country leaders to learn from the experiences of COVID-19.
“What really keeps me up at night,” she says, “is how technology is accelerating inequality.” Troubling evidence suggests that inequalities are being exacerbated both within high-income countries and globally due to challenges of access, connectivity and home environments for learners. As a result, Vegas and her team at Brookings will be continuing to research how remote instruction takes place in developing countries to address inequality. Other top priorities for future research include developing methods to best prepare teachers to implement EdTech solutions in their classrooms, and finally, building essential skills for today in K-12 settings so students have the skills they need for employment, but also for full participation as global citizens. Vegas’ vision for an ideal education system is one in which learning is tailored to each individual student’s needs and passions, and to meet the needs of society. This idea is very far from the education system that exists in many parts of the world today, but technology offers us the ability to get there, if invested in and implemented properly. This report hopes to help technology fulfill its promise for all learners.
For more details:
Website: https://www.brookings.edu/center/center-for-universal-education/
Publication: Ganimian, J., Vegas, E., & Hess, F.M. (2020). Realizing the promise: How can education technology improve learning for all. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/essay/realizing-the-promise-how-can-education-technology-improve-learning-for-all/
Social media: @Brookingsglobal
Researcher name: Emiliana Vegas
Researcher email: evegas@brookings.edu
