by James A. Bacon
K-12 schools and higher ed institutions across the United States are expected to spend a combined $11.3 billion on education technology in 2015. So many new products are flooding the educational marketplace that educators are finding it difficult to make informed decisions about which to use. To address this challenge, the Jefferson Education Accelerator (JEA) is partnering with American Institutes for Research (AIR) to expand JEA’s network of experts and researchers.
JEA, an initiative of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, launched in February as an educational accelerator/incubator. Its big value-add is a nationwide network of K-12 schools and colleges that provide efficacy studies of new products and services. Washington, D.C.-based AIR uses social science research to gain insights into education, health and the workforce. Among the issues it has addressed recently: what and how summer schoolers learn, school discipline reform, and early childhood education quality ratings.
“AIR brings a breadth and depth of experience in research, evaluation, and technical assistance that we believe will complement the Curry School expertise and support the objectives of JEA,” said Bart Epstein, founding CEO of the accelerator.
Last month Reston-based Echo 360, developer of a learning platform, joined as JEA’s first customer. For an undisclosed sum, JEA will help the Steve Case-funded technology company conduct research and scale its operations. “Our review of its internal data shows strong evidence of significant impact on student engagement and outcomes,” Epstein said in a press release.
“We know that traditional lectures present a significant challenge for institutions grappling with completion rates and student engagement. Echo360 already shows strong evidence of supporting faculty and engaging students,” said Robert Pianta, dean of the Curry School. “At UVA, we’re excited to further explore how technology like theirs can help faculty and institutional leaders improve actual student success.”
Bacon’s bottom line: U.S. K-12 education is in a rut. It costs too much and it has failed to move the needle on educational outcomes. Applying technology to revolutionize teaching methods is, in theory, one way to jump-start the industry. But technology is not a magic wand; the effectiveness of the new technology tools is notoriously difficult to evaluate. Implemented carelessly, technology initiatives can squander a lot of money. Field-testing the tools in real-world conditions and evaluating them with scientifically valid methods should help take the politics and the anecdotal out of decisions on which technologies to deploy.
