Procuring EdTech Solutions Must Go Back to the Basics
By Stella Lee
The popularity of Education Technology (EdTech) has risen significantly during the pandemic as organizations needed to modernize their learning and development initiatives, to urgently shift learning offerings online, and to find ways to engage and support the workforce. In 2023, I expect to see continued adoption of EdTech particularly with the recent development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. AI is being integrated into many EdTech products and is being seen as a competitive advantage as it can potentially offer a more personalized experience, identify learning trends and patterns, and synthesize content and provide predictive analytics. However, EdTech is an expensive investment and not one to be taken on lightly. According to one survey, on average, organizations spend 11 percent of their budget or $337,190 on learning tools and technologies, with large services organizations spending up to $2.3 million. Furthermore, the introduction of EdTech products potentially has a long-term impact on the organization’s culture, performance, workflow, and can shape the employee’s experience from learning and development to talent retention and succession planning.
Despite the cost and the profound impact, I have seen far too many organizations jump onto the EdTech bandwagon impulsively and engage in a wide-scale implementation of an EdTech product without first conducting research, consulting stakeholders, setting strategy, and validating the business needs and requirements. As a result, some or all of the following scenarios materialize: ineffective solutions are being introduced, products misalign with business goals and do not fit in to the existing infrastructure, companies and users are put off by the bad experience and become resistant to change and disengage in learning, and inevitably, EdTech gets a bad reputation.
To avoid such failure that wastes time, effort, and resources, we need to get back to the basics and focus on the fundamentals of EdTech evaluation and selection. We should start with answering the Why, What, and How questions. Let’s break it down and consider each one:
The Why Question
The Why question demands that we understand the reasons and the context for introducing an EdTech system.
You need to know:
Why do you need an EdTech solution?
Why is this particular solution needed? Or are there alternatives?
Furthermore, to answer the Why question, you need to know if by introducing an EdTech solution, which of the following business issues will be addressed:
Will it help ease a specific business pain point (e.g. provide better customer service, reduce call center error rates, increase workplace health and safety, etc.)?
Will it help overcome a certain barrier or challenge in the organization (e.g. large staff turnover rate, skill shortage in certain job roles, disengage staff, etc.)?
Will it help bring in new opportunities (e.g. expand product knowledge of staff, acquire additional skills to be more competitive, etc.)?
Every organization is different, but the need to develop an evidence-based approach to evaluating and implementing EdTech solutions is universal. Start with exploring the implicit assumptions made about implementing EdTech. For example, are you assuming that EdTech solutions will increase staff engagement in learning, and thus improve their on-the-job performance? What evidence exists (i.e. as provided by vendors, collected internally, or through literature search/industry white paper research) that supports this assumption? Is this evidence biased in any way? How do you know that the EdTech solution will actually solve your business problem instead of an alternative intervention (such as developing a different recruitment strategy)?
Be very clear in examining your impetus for introducing an EdTech solution to your organization. You need to ensure that the reasons and the underlying assumptions are not misguided, lack proper evidence, or are misaligned with the organization’s goals.
The What Question
As a follow-up to the Why question, you need to understand the type of EdTech solution you want to procure – what it does, as well as its strengths and limitations. The EdTech sector is a very crowded space, with thousands of vendors offering a vast selection of products. EdTech products range from Learning Management Systems (LMS), content libraries and recommendation systems, assessment and credentialing tools, coaching and mentoring sites, informal, social, and collaborative platforms, and many other related apps and products. This enriches the variety of learning innovations but also challenges users and buyers alike to be able to differentiate and compare products.
You need to know:
What types of EdTech solutions are available in the market?
What are the strengths and limitations of the each EdTech solution?
To understand the various solutions, a good starting point is visiting some of the EdTech review sites online. Typically these sites include product reviews, feature listings, and user ratings. They can be helpful to some extent in finding and comparing products for specific purposes. A word of caution – there are many sites that take commissions from vendors, and thus offer less than neutral reviews and ranking of products. Be sure to visit multiple resources, compare notes, and do not rely on a single source or product review.
The How Question
The How Question represents the actual process of evaluating and procuring an EdTech product that fits your purpose:
How do you go about reviewing EdTech products systematically?
To organize this process, you need to develop a product evaluation framework that balances multiple aspects such as vendor reputation, product roadmap, functions and features, quality, effectiveness, scalability, maintainability, and cost. In addition, EdTech solutions don't work without proper infrastructure, robust user training and support, well-planned communication and change management plans, and the right policies supporting the use. So make sure you have assessed your organization’s current context, needs, and readiness for EdTech.
For example, some of the assessment questions are:
Who will own the new EdTech solution (thus be responsible for training, user support, configuration, liaising with vendor, etc.)?
Does your organization have technology governance, a data ethics policy, and regulatory requirements in terms of personal data storage and related privacy issues?
Who will be in the key stakeholder groups? Are they a fair representation of all interested parties including end users?
Do you have a communication and change management plan in place?
How will you measure the success of the evaluation and implementation? By user adoption rate? By other metrics?
A readiness assessment helps to make better decisions on how best to allocate your resources, address existing gaps, and ensure that the solution you end up with will fit in with the organization. However, no one system will meet all your needs, so be realistic in your process and your expectations. Keep in mind that implementing an EdTech solution is not a strategy in itself, but rather it is a tactical tool that we can use to support the business goal.