Best Practices for Implementing Edtech Solutions

🌍 UNESCO’s Pillars Framework for Digital Transformation in Education offers a roadmap for leaders, educators, and tech partners to work together and bridge the digital divide. This framework is about more than just tech—it’s about supporting communities and keeping education a public good. 💡 When implementing EdTech, policymakers should pay special attention to these critical aspects to ensure that technology meaningfully enhances education without introducing unintended issues:  🚸1. Equity and Access Policymakers need to prioritize closing the digital divide by providing affordable internet, reliable devices, and offline options where connectivity is limited. Without equitable access, EdTech can worsen existing educational inequalities.  💻2. Data Privacy and Security Implementing strong data privacy laws and secure platforms is essential to build trust. Policymakers must ensure compliance with data protection standards and implement safeguards against data breaches, especially in systems that involve sensitive information.  🚌3. Pedagogical Alignment and Quality of Content Digital tools and content should be high-quality, curriculum-aligned, and support real learning needs. Policymakers should involve educators in selecting and shaping EdTech tools that align with proven pedagogical practices.  🌍4. Sustainable Funding and Cost Management To avoid financial strain, policymakers should develop sustainable, long-term funding models and evaluate the total cost of ownership, including infrastructure, updates, and training. Balancing costs with impact is key to sustaining EdTech programs.  🦺5. Capacity Building and Professional Development Training is essential for teachers to integrate EdTech into their teaching practices confidently. Policymakers need to provide robust, ongoing professional development and peer-support systems, so educators feel empowered rather than overwhelmed by new tools. 👓 6. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Continuous Improvement Policymakers should establish monitoring and evaluation processes to track progress and understand what works. This includes using data to refine strategies, ensure goals are met, and avoid wasted resources on ineffective solutions. 🧑🚒 7. Cultural and Social Adaptation Cultural sensitivity is crucial, especially in communities less familiar with digital learning. Policymakers should promote a growth mindset and address resistance through community engagement and awareness campaigns that highlight the educational value of EdTech. 🥸 8. Environmental Sustainability Policymakers should integrate green practices, like using energy-efficient devices and recycling programs, to reduce EdTech’s carbon footprint. Sustainable practices can also help keep costs manageable over time. 🔥Download: UNESCO. (2024). Six pillars for the digital transformation of education. UNESCO. https://lnkd.in/eYgr922n  #DigitalTransformation #EducationInnovation #GlobalEducation

Research tracking actual edtech usage across K–12 districts shows that 60–70% of purchased ed-tech licenses go unused. Nationally, that adds up to $1+ billion every year in underutilized or unused software. That’s not a technology failure. That's an adoption and oversight failure. The good news: districts that address this intentionally can claw back both dollars and instructional focus. What works: • Designate a clear instructional owner for every tool. No owner, no renewal • Right-size licenses annually based on real usage, not enrollment • Simplify portfolios with fewer tools, deeper implementation • Build adoption benchmarks into contracts and renewal decisions • Invest in training for teachers with ongoing support, not one-time PD • Require vendors to provide transparent usage and impact data • Sunset unused tools regularly, make stopping just as normal as starting The hidden cost of edtech isn’t the license. It’s the clutter, confusion, and lost time when tools don’t earn their place. The next phase of edtech isn’t about buying smarter tools. It’s about managing them better. If school districts did this consistently, the budget conversation would shift from “we need more” to “we’re finally getting value.” #edtech #education #edbudget #edleadership #teachers #schools #edreform

Common Sense Media recently released a comprehensive risk assessment of AI teacher assistants/lesson planning tools. Their findings reveal that while these tools promise increased productivity and creative support, they're also creating "invisible influencers" that could fundamentally undermine educational quality. Unlike GenAI foundation model chatbots, these tools are specifically designed for instructional planning and classroom use and are rapidly being adopted across districts. Key Concerns from their report: • "Invisible Influencers" in Student Learning: AI-generated content directly shapes what students learn through potentially biased perspectives and historical inaccuracies that teachers may miss; evidence also shows these tools suggest different approaches and responses based on student race/gender • “Outsourced Thinking" Problem: Tools make it dangerously easy to push unreviewed AI instructional content straight to classrooms, while novice teachers lack experience to spot subtle errors and biasses • High-Stakes Outputs: IEP and behavior plan generators create official-looking documents that could impact student educational trajectories even though these plans should be human-generated (and in the case of IEP goals are mandated to be human generated) • Undermining High-Quality Instructional Materials: Without proper integration, these tools fragment learning and can undermine coherent, research-backed curricula Recommendations from the report: • Experienced educator oversight required for all AI-generated educational content • Clear district policies and guidelines for AI teacher assistant implementation • Integration with existing high-quality curricula rather than replacement of established materials • Robust teacher training on identifying bias and evaluating AI outputs • Careful oversight of real-time AI feedback tools that interact directly with students We'd also recommend foundational AI literacy for teachers before they begin using GenAI teacher assistants, so that they are aware of the potential limitations. While AI teacher assistants aren't inherently problematic, they require the same careful implementation and oversight we'd expect for any tool that directly impacts student learning. The potential for enhanced productivity is real, but so are the risks to educational equity and quality. This report underscores the urgent need for GenAI EdTech tool makers to provide evidence of how their tools mitigate these issues along with evidence-based policies and professional development to help educators navigate AI tools responsibly. All of which underline how important AI Literacy is for the 2025-2026 school year. Link in the comments to check out the full report. Also check out our 5 Questions to Ask GenAI EdTech Providers resource in the comments if you are planning to implement any of these tools in your school or district. #AIinEducation #ailiteracy #Education #K12 AI for Education

Edtech is often criticised for poor quality, misuse of student data and limited learning impact (I’ve voiced those concerns myself several times). But we can’t hold systems accountable without first showing what good or exceptional performance looks like. Once that’s clear, we can create competitive pressure and drive improvement.  ⬇️ Excited to finally share our paper in HSCC Springer Nature that outlines key benchmark criteria for high-quality EdTech. The paper summarises the work our research group has been doing over the past three years. It focuses on educational impact and edtech’s added value for students’ learning. 📚 After an extensive literature review and cross-sector consultations, we’ve developed a multidimensional framework grounded in the “5Es” — efficacy, effectiveness, ethics, equity, and environment.  Efficacy and Effectiveness combine experimental evidence with process-focused metrics and pedagogical implementation studies. Broader metrics focus on ethical data processing, inclusive and equitable approaches and edtech’s environmental impact. 👇 The fifteen tiered impact indicators already guide a comprehensive and flexible evaluation process of international policymakers, educators, EdTech developers and certification bodies (see EduEvidence - The International Certification of Evidence of Impact in Education and our case studies). 🙏 Huge thanks to all who contributed, especially through our participatory Delphi process. Your insights were invaluable! Nicola Pitchford Anna Lindroos Cermakova Olav Schewe Janine Campbell /Rhys Spence Jakub Labun Samuel Kembou, PhD Tal Havivi/ Ayça Atabey Dr. Yenda Prado Sofia Shengjergji, PhD Parker Van Nostrand David Dockterman Stephen Cory Robinson Andra Siibak Petra Vackova Stef Mills Michael H. Levine  #EdTech #ImpactMeasurement #5Es #EdTechQuality #EdTechStandards 👇 Read here or download from:

Dear EdTech Investors - Part 3 In my last post, I told you about the 5 percent problem. Only about 5 percent of students use most edtech tools at the level needed to show results. After reading that, some might blame the product. Sometimes they are right. But often the product is fine. The problem is that nobody showed the teacher how to use it effectively. I know this because I used to be that person. Before I became a principal, I was an instructional technology coach for a large school district. My job was helping teachers integrate new tools into their classrooms. I was the bridge between the product and the practice. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁. The hard part is fitting it into a 50-minute class with 35 students who are all in different places. The hard part is leaders making the case to staff that this tool is worth their time when they have been burned by the last three. That is where a lot of EdTech investments fail. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍. And that means your portfolio company's churn problem might not be a product problem. It might be an implementation problem. That is fixable, and fixing it is profitable. When you evaluate a company, do you ask how they support implementation? Not a PDF guide. Not a webinar. Real, sustained training that meets teachers where they are. A product without implementation support is a product waiting to be abandoned. Here is the part that should interest you: 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎. Because schools would pay for professional development to support successful, ongoing implementation. When a company offers training that actually helps our teachers use the tool well, we will find the money. Because it makes the tool work 𝙁𝙊𝙍 the teachers, which makes the investment worth renewing. That is recurring revenue your portfolio company is leaving on the table. The companies that get this right hire former educators. They offer onboarding that goes beyond "click here, then click here." They check in at month three. They ask teachers what is not working and actually fix it. Those companies do not have a 5 percent problem. They have loyal customers. The ones that give logins and ask teachers to go to the company website's FAQ page? They end up on my list of tools to cut. If the answer to "What is your training model?" is "We have a help desk" or "We built an AI chatbot," that is not a training model. 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒖𝒏. Because that is how you build a company that schools keep for a decade. #EdTech #PreK12 #SchoolLeadership #EdTechInvestment #AIinEducation

I spent 13 years building one of the pioneers in High Impact Tutoring. Here's what we learned —> and who's carrying the torch. FEV TUTOR: WHAT WE BUILT The first online/virtual-only High Impact Tutoring company built for K-12. Not B2C. Not libraries. K-12 from Day 1. A Pioneer. People disbelieved we could sell directly to K12 Education. We proved the doubters wrong. Zero outside investment. Organic growth only. We only scaled when we actually solved problems. THE PILLARS THAT MATTER 1. RESEARCH & EVIDENCE Hundreds of thousands of students studied. Published research starting in 2009 (IES ERIC database). Level 2 ESSA. Digital Promise certified. Research wasn't marketing — it was the foundation. 2. INTEGRATION The ONLY live tutoring instructional connection for NWEA. Early data partners with Renaissance and iReady. If you're not in the ecosystem, you're not in the workflow. 3. ACCESS SSO went from 10% of clients → 90% during pandemic → 100% today. We partnered with Clever, Classlink, and Google Classroom before it was standard. Friction kills usage. 4. OUTCOMES-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY First OBC in K-12 Education — Ector County ISD — 3+ years of results. Part of the Harvard OBC cohort in 2020. Bias toward action. 5. AI + HUMAN Featured in the Presidential Report on AI in Education. Stanford AI Tutoring Co-Pilot Study with NSSA. One of the first in K-12. 6. SCALE Baltimore City, Philadelphia, Hillsborough, Duval, Dallas ISD, Tulsa, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Fulton County, Montgomery County — and more. We were quiet. Focused on delivery. Organic growth over loud marketing. WHY THIS MATTERS These are the pillars every EdTech company should focus on: ✓ Research — build on data, not hype ✓ Integration — live in the ecosystem ✓ Access — remove friction ✓ Accountability — tie results to contracts ✓ Scale — prove it in complex systems THE TORCH At RP Impact, we chose ONE High Impact Tutoring partner to bring this experience to. We chose Paper. We believe they have the highest potential to drive academic outcomes at scale. Martina (Wang) Tam, Marisa Burkhart, Sarah Henderson, Jacob Geller Rich Yang and team are building something special. In 2026, our goal: Integrated High Impact Tutoring as a key lever for Math and ELA outcomes —> part of MTSS strategy AT SCALE. This is how we change the game for students.

There is a big "implementation gap" in American education right now when it comes to AI. While 33 state departments have issued official guidance, only about one third of school districts have a formal policy in place. As a former Technology Leader for the NYC Department of Education, I’ve seen this cycle before: states lead, districts wait, and students are left to navigate the technology on their own. We can’t let that happen with AI. District leaders aren't ignoring the tech, they’re overwhelmed by shrinking budgets and daily operations. But here’s the reality: The AI is already in your classrooms. If you don't have a framework, you aren't protecting the school, you're just losing control over how the data is handled. Here are 5 steps every district leader should take right now: 👉 Form a Team: Don't make this just an "IT project." Bring in teachers, parents, and students. 👉 Take Inventory: Spend 30 days mapping every AI tool currently being used (you’ll be surprised by how much shadow tech is already there). 👉Focus on Privacy & Integrity: Don't lead with fear or bans. Define exactly what student data can be used and what "honest work" looks like now. 👉 Group by Grade Level: A kindergartner doesn't need a chatbot, a high schooler needs to know how to use one responsibly. Tailor your policy to the age of the student. 👉 Be Transparent: Tell parents which tools you use and why. Trust is built through honesty, not a 50 page manual no one reads. The cost of waiting for "perfect information" is much higher than the cost of building a thoughtful framework and fixing it as you go. Is your district leading the AI reality or just reacting to it? #K12 #Education #AI #SchoolLeadership #EdTech #DigitalTransformation #DataPrivacy

#AI in K-12 education is here, and it’s poised transform learning, operations, and decision-making in schools. But with great potential comes great responsibility for mitigating risk to maximize AI’s benefits. In a new guest blog on Devansh Devansh’s Artificial Intelligence Made Simple Laura Smith and I talk risk mitigation, opportunities, and what leaders must do to harness AI safely. Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/eimvrar8 According to Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) 2024 survey: ✅ 97% of EdTech leaders see benefits in AI. ✅ 35% of districts already have generative AI initiatives. But the risks? New cyberattacks (63%), cyberbullying (47%), & lack of teacher #AI training (49%). Privacy is also a major concern. A Maryland high school ran a student’s paper through GPTZero to check for AI plagiarism without consent. The result: Potential #FERPA violations & student privacy infringements. Schools must tread carefully with third-party AI tools. #AI bias is real. AI mirrors societal biases found in its training data. This can widen disparities. But the *opportunities* are enormous: 🎯 Personalized learning tailored to individual learners with stronger coaching abilities. 📊 Faster, more accurate assessments and data insights. 📚 Streamlined administrative tasks like HR and grant management. The key: Ethical and intentional implementation. To support education leaders, ILO Group created TWO #AI Frameworks for districts and states - see here: https://lnkd.in/eQcF8sph These are living documents, evolving with AI advancements. These frameworks focus on 4 key areas: 1) Political: Governance, ethics, and privacy. 2) Operational: AI literacy, training, and communication. 3) Technical: Infrastructure readiness, safety, and security. 4) Fiscal: Sustainable and adequate funding. Schools need technical partnerships to navigate this AI era. AI Assurance Labs can assess safety & ethical risks. Systems must be in place to detect & respond to deepfakes or AI-generated threats. Data security & transparency are non-negotiable. Education leaders must balance competing priorities, starting with clear goals, not just tools. The time to act is now. AI is reshaping education, and leaders, educators, and technical experts must work together to ensure this generational opportunity isn’t wasted.