Ed Tech Developers Guide

A primer for software developers, startups, and entrepreneurs

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

http://tech.ed.gov

Support for the creation of this document was provided by the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI
International under the contract ED-04-CO-0040/0010. The mention of trade names, commercial products,
or organizations in this report does not imply endorsements by the U.S. government. This publication
also contains URLs for information created and maintained by private organizations. This information is
provided for the readers convenience. The U.S. Department of Education is not responsible for controlling or
guaranteeing the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this information. Further, the inclusion
of information or URL does not reflect the importance of the organization, nor is it intended to endorse any
views expressed or products or services offered.
U.S. Department of Education
Arne Duncan
Secretary

Office of Educational Technology

Richard Culatta
Director

April 2015

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to use, modify, or reproduce this report in whole or in part
is granted. The citation to use when reproducing this document is: U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Educational Technology, Ed Tech Developers Guide, Washington, D.C., 2015.
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2

Contents
Acknowledgements 5
Developing for Impact

Choosing the Best Opportunity

Opportunity 1: Improving Mastery of Academic Skills

Opportunity 2: Developing Skills to Promote Lifelong Learning

Opportunity 3: Increasing Family Engagement

10

Opportunity 4: Planning for Future Education Opportunities

11

Opportunity 5: Designing Effective Assessments

11

Opportunity 6: Improving Educator Professional Development

12

Opportunity 7: Improving Educator Productivity

13

Opportunity 8: Making Learning Accessible to All Students

15

Opportunity 9: Closing Opportunity Gaps

17

Opportunity 10: Closing Achievement Gaps

17

The Design Process: From Idea to Implementation

19

Beginning 19
Use Data to Improve Your Design

24

Evaluate Impact

30

Ensuring Privacy and Protecting Student Data

31

Networking and Funding

34

Finding Like-Minded People

34

Ed Tech Incubators and Accelerators

35

Other Funding Opportunities

36

Inside a Typical School District

39

Federal, State, and District Responsibilities

39

District Funding Sources and Budgets

39

Key People

42

Technology Infrastructure

44

Getting Apps and Tools to Users

48

District/School Procurement

48

Sustaining and Growing an App or Tool

52

Software Interoperability and Open Data

53

Early-Stage Interoperability Initiatives

55

Sources of Education Data and Resources

58

Important Trends in the Education Landscape

61

Blended Learning

62

Standards for Learning

62

Testing/Assessment 63
Personalized Learning

64

Project-Based Learning

65

Mastery-Based Learning

65

Teacher Certification

65

Keeping Up with Ed Tech

66

Acknowledgements
This report was developed under the guidance of Richard Culatta, Joseph South, Katrina Stevens, and
Bernadette Adams of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology.
Many thanks to those who contributed to writing the guide, including: Marie Bienkowski and Sarah Nixon
Gerard of SRI International; Shawn Rubin, Cathy Sanford, and Dana Borrelli-Murray of the Highlander
Institute; Tom Driscoll of Putnam Public Schools; Jessie Arora of Embark Lab; Mike Hruska of Problem
Solutions; Katie Beck of 4.0 Schools; Thomas Murray of the Alliance for Excellent Education; and Jason
Hoekstra of Actualize Technology. Stuart Gannes assisted with writing and editing. Edward Metz of the
Institution of Education Sciences, Steve Midgley of MixRun, Stephanie Castilla of Metryx, Jason Tomassini of
Digital Promise, Mary Jo Madda of EdSurge, and Zac Chase, Erik Martin, Marcus Noel, and Kathleen Styles at
the U.S. Department of Education, provided additional content.
Early thinking and editing were provided by Heather Gilchrist of Socratic Labs, Marissa Lowman of
LearnLaunch, and Alan Louie of Imagine K12. Barbara Means, Robert Murphy, Daniel Humphrey, and Jose
Blackorby of SRI International provided valuable information on educational research, training, and student
accessibility.
James Sanders of the EdTechTeam provided materials regarding the Open Data Initiatives. Brenda Waller
of SRI International provided administrative assistance. The report was edited by Mimi Campbell of
SRI International. Kate Borelli of SRI International produced graphics and layout and provided printing
assistance.
Stories from the field were provided by educators such as Dawn Casey-Rowe of William M. Davies Jr., Career
and Technical High School, RI; Angela Estrella of Lynbrook High School in Cupertino, CA; Mary Moen and
Jessica Geremia of the Chariho Regional School District, RI; Brad Waid and Drew Minock of Bloomfield
Hills, MI; Brian Bennett of Okemos, MI; Kate Baker of Manahawkin, NJ; Jason Bretzmann of Muskego, WI;
Steven Hodas of the Center on Reinventing Public Education; Brian Baldizar of Providence, RI; and Vanessa
Waggenheim of Highlander Charter School, Providence, RI. Stories from the field were also provided by
Ridvan Aliu of EDUonGo; Tess Brustein of Smarter Cookie; Vicki Davis of the Cool Cat Teacher blog; Matt
Greenfield of Rethink Education; Alex Hernandez of the Charter School Growth Fund; Kim Jacobson of
Stanford d.school; Michael Staton of Learn Capital; and Alice Wilder of Amazon Studios.

Developing for Impact

Dear Innovator,
The Office of Educational Technology created this guide to assist you in gaining specialized knowledge
about the education ecosystem that experienced developers have taken years to learn. Crowd-sourced from
knowledgeable educators, developers, and researchers who were willing to share what they have learned,
this guide is designed to help you apply technology in smart ways to solve persistent problems in education.
It is our hope that this guide will answer key questions and highlight critical needs as you explore
opportunities to develop digital tools and apps for learning.
The demand for high-quality educational apps is increasing as communities become more connected, devices
become more affordable, and teachers and parents are looking for new ways to use technology to engage
students. Yet, many existing solutions dont address the most urgent needs in education. Opportunities
abound for software designers and developers to create impactful tools for teachers, school leaders, students,
and their families.
Creating apps and tools for education is different from other fields. A variety of federal, state, and local
policies may shape the features you choose to include, and you will need to address some unique questions
along the way. The aim of this guide is to help you navigate these complexities.
The guide provides basic information about districts, schools, teachers, and students. In addition, it will help
you consider questions affecting design and logistics: Do teachers have the training to use your app in the
right way? How do privacy and accessibilty laws intersect with the features you want to include? Who makes
the decision to purchase your tool, and how long does purchasing take? Can your app be equally effective at
school and home? What features are most important to parents?
Developers and entrepreneurs who choose to apply their talents to build tools for learning have the ability
to help transform education in America and exponentially increase opportunities for all students. I hope this
guide will help you do that.
Looking forward to seeing your solutions!

Richard Culatta
Director, Office of Educational Technology
United States Department of Education

Choosing the Best Opportunity

As you begin the process of designing apps and tools for learning, focus on solving problems that have a significant
impact on your intended users. Apps that simply digitize traditional practice are less meaningful than apps that
support more effective approaches to teaching and learning based on sound research. This section presents ten
opportunities that technology has the potential to address. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it represents
some of the most urgent needs that we hear from educators, parents, and students across the country. Each section
describes the opportunity, shows why it is important, and provides some possible approaches to spark your creativity.
Many solutions will address more than one of these opportunities.

Learning Powered by Technology

The U.S. Department of Educations National Education Technology Plan (NETP) presents a vision for learning

powered by technology. The NETP explains how technology can support personalizing learning to address students'
individual needs and interests as well as provide access to learning opportunities anywhere and throughout a

persons life. The plan describes how technology-based assessments can be unobtrusively embedded into learning
activities to support just-in-time assistance, measure important student competencies, and provide feedback to

inform continuous improvement efforts across the entire education system. The NETP also suggests a new role for
teachers as they shift to connected teaching, joining networks of individuals forming professional communities

to support student learning and act on insights from data provided by technology. The NETP envisions a learning
infrastructure that provides access to people and resources at all levels of the education system and a role for

technology in enabling the redesign and transformation of schooling in ways that increase efficiencies, reducing the
time teachers must spend on administrative activities.

Opportunity 1: Improving Mastery of Academic Skills

Perhaps the most obvious place for apps and tools to be helpful is in providing support for teaching academic
concepts such as math, science, language arts, social studies, and world languages. New learning activities that help
students increase academic proficiency are in high demand. In particular, teachers are seeking tools to help increase
opportunities to practice skills in authentic environments and help students take more control of their learning. Each
state posts its curriculum standards that show the specific skills that are taught in the state in each content area.

Why is this important? Students need to demonstrate proficiency in certain academic skills in order to move
from one grade to another and to graduate from high school and then from college or other training programs.
These are skills that are important for students to have to be successful in their careers or postsecondary
education. Yet international tests like the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that U.S.
students are falling significantly behind those in other countries in mathematics, reading, and science (see LA
Times article Are America's Students Falling Behind the World?).
What would help? Create apps to teach
academic skills in more meaningful ways than
traditional textbooks and lectures. Give learners
an opportunity to practice in realistic settings. This
might be done through interactive simulations
The value of technology for transforming learning is
(e.g., models of ancient cities that allow students to
lost if it is only used to digitize traditional materials
experience history or virtual chemistry simulations
(e.g. scanning worksheets makes them digital, but
that might be unsafe to reproduce in a classroom).
doesn't improve the learning experience). Instead,
Think beyond delivering contentare there tools
think about innovative approaches that allow
that enable students to build and create projects
students to engage with content differently. What
that encourage deeper exploration of a particular
does technology make possible that could not be
topic? Consider merging teaching and assessing to
done before?
pinpoint knowledge gaps along the way to mastery
through probes of understanding or by identifying
competencies through formative assessments that are seamlessly embedded in the learning materials. New
forms of media such as educational games can break traditional molds, allowing students more freedom to
explore, create, and collaborate, and can open the door to more immersive learning experiences. While research
has been conducted to identify effective teaching methods for just about every subject, those methods dont always
make it into practice in the classroom. Creating apps that put research-based methods into practice can greatly
impact instruction and learning.

Innovate, Don't Digitize

Opportunity 2: Developing Skills to Promote Lifelong Learning

Researchers and educators recognize that students need to develop not only academic skills, but also noncognitive social and emotional skills and behaviors that lead to their long-term success. For example, what
attitude do they have about learning? Do they feel like their abilities in a subject are fixed (Im just no good
at math!), or do they recognize they can grow (I can succeed at math, but I will need to learn some new
strategies in order to approach this problem set)? Non-cognitive skills such as perseverance, self-regulation,
and effective strategies for approaching learning enhance student motivation and engagement, and there are
many ways apps can be designed to support the development of these non-cognitive skills and behaviors, with
promising results (see Readiness for College: The Role of Noncognitive Factors and Context from the University
of Chicago and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Why is this important? There are many

non-cognitive skills that are critical for
an individual to strive for and succeed
in reaching long-term goals. Researchers
Developing grit or perseverance does not just mean working
have found that habits such as tenacity
harder. Rather, students who display grit have developed
and perseverance can have just as strong
confidence that they can solve a problem and have
an influence on achievement as intellectual
developed a toolkit of strategies to apply when faced with
ability. There is growing evidence that
new challenges.
learning environments can be designed to
foster development of these skills. In 2013,
the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP) and the U.S. Department of Education hosted a meeting of researchers, practitioners,
and industry representatives to discuss the impact of students beliefs about their academic abilities (see How
Can We Instill Productive Mindsets at Scale?, a report from leading researchers in the field on the meetings
research agenda regarding instilling productive mindsets).

More than Working Harder

What would help? Identify which non-cognitive skills and behaviors you are trying to develop and build
opportunities to do so into your apps. Growth mindset, for example, is more likely when students believe they
can achieve and when they believe that intelligence is malleable rather than fixed (see Stanford professor
Carol Dweck's work on fixed versus growth intelligence mindsets). Accordingly, an app might frame mistakes
as opportunities to learn and reward students who persist through solving difficult problems. It might also

Technology Brings Growth Mindset to Schools

With funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program,

New York City-based Mindset Works developed SchoolKit, an app designed to strengthen academic and social-

emotional success. Through animations, assessments, and classroom activities, students learn a growth mindsetthe
understanding that ability develops with effort. Pilot research in nine middle schools found significant increases

in students growth mindset, which related to increases in learning goals, positive beliefs about effort, and positive
academic habits and behaviors
(such as resilient responses

to failure and better learning

strategies). These changes also

related to increases in students

GPA. Since launching in 2012,

SchoolKit has been used by tens

of thousands of students around

the country, including all middle

schools in Washington, D.C. The
app is based on Carol Dwecks
research on growth mindsets.

support goal setting, allow students to choose learning activities, and encourage achievement against objective
standards. To improve self-regulation, students may be asked to reflect on their effort and to consider how
difficult they find the material. Apps that reward hard work and tenacity should be favored over those that
reinforce simply getting the right answer in order for students to advance to a new level. Game designers
are particularly adept at motivating persistence, and much can be learned from the methods they use to
inspire players to persevere in the face of difficulty and frustration. Finally, behavior management is an
important non-cognitive skill. Teachers, especially those new to the profession, may need help establishing a
productive classroom environment and climate (see this article on Classroom Management from the American
Psychological Association), and classroom management apps could reward positive behaviors, potentially
decreasing unwanted behaviors.

Opportunity 3: Increasing Family Engagement

Involving parents and caregivers in the learning process is a key element to ensuring student success. It is particularly
essential for students who need special assistance, such as those who struggle with learning disabilities. Often
parents feel left out of the education process, especially those whose work, school, or family responsibilities make it
difficult to connect with teachers and school leaders during regular school hours. The Harvard Graduate School of
Education published an article on the benefits of family engagement that included a summary of research on how
to most effectively engage families. Family and community engagementfor students of all agesis a focus for
the U.S. Department of Education, and its family
and community website provides resources for
early learning in families overall and in special
populations like military and migrant families as
well as homeless children.
When developing your app and the communications

Tip: Many Types of Families

around it, remember that families come in many different

Why is this important? Schools have a

configurations, so more general terms like parent,
tremendous role in engaging and supporting
caregiver, or family member apply to more situations
students, and parents help in many ways,
than mother and father.
including making sure that children start on par
with their peers. Providing parents with at-home
activities (as PBS KIDS has done in its Parents
Play & Learn app and Zero to Three has done in its Lets Play! app) to support in-class learning reinforces the idea
among families that not all learning has to take place in school. Parental engagement could come from daily progress
updates, easy tools to communicate with a childs teacher, and resources to connect school learning to practical home
activities. Connecting parents of all backgrounds to school communities empowers them to become active, informed
advocates for their children throughout their education.
What would help? Familiarize yourself with ways to engage families (some ideas are provided by the Response to
Intervention Action Network article) and then think about how to apply those principles to engage families through
technology. For instance, could your app provide information to caregivers about student progress and homework in
near real time and in languages spoken at home? Can your tool be used on a smartphone or in an offline mode for
homes without an Internet connection? Does it help parents stay involved in their childrens school activities while
10

balancing work or other responsibilities? For parents whose first language is not English or who may come from
cultures outside the United States, can your app better help them understand and navigate the K12 school system,
including their local school?

Opportunity 4: Planning for Future Education Opportunities

Preparing for college and navigating the application process can be challenging, and the sticker price for
college can be overwhelming and misleading. For example, a more prestigious college that appears to be
expensive may actually be cheaper than other options once scholarships and financial aid are factored in.
Using technology to help students and their families make better decisions about their future education has
great promise. Many students do not apply to college because they do not know what institutions they could
qualify for or how to take advantage of financial supports that may be available to them. All students, but
particularly underserved students, would benefit from tools that engage them long before their final years in
high school to help plan their academic path to graduate and apply to and complete postsecondary education.
Why is this important? Research, including a recent College Board study, has shown that students who
graduate with a degree, even an associate degree, far outpace their peers in income generated over a lifetime
of employment. Even career and technical education programs often require a two-year degree. Yet the process
of planning for, applying to, and financing college can feel dauntingespecially for first-generation college
students and their families.
What would help? Financial aid navigators, course planners, remote college counseling, and college-to-career
maps all can help students plan for and be successful in their future education plans. Additionally, new tools
and apps targeted at helping school counselors could increase both the reach and amount of support counselors
can provide students (on average, half the number of counselors are available to high school students as is
recommended by the American School Counselor Association). Additionally, open state and federal datasets
can be used to create apps for managing college finances and to identify skills needed for different types of
jobs. Imagine a jobs available at graduation tool that uses labor statistics about job growth. Also needed are
tools that interface with college course catalogs and let students interactively plan various paths to college
completion. Imagine an app that lets students identify and communicate with alumni of the institution that
they are attending (or plan to attend) in fields that interest them so they can gain perspective and advice.

Opportunity 5: Designing Effective Assessments

Understanding what students know and how much they are learning is an important part of education.
Traditionally teachers have made educated guesses about how much their students are learning based on
classroom observation and reviewing homework. Teachers often struggle, mostly because of time, with
creating assessments that truly align with the skills they want to measure. They also spend hours reviewing
and grading student work that could be better spent preparing lessons and working with students.
11

In addition, information from formal

assessments is often not available quickly
enough to inform instruction. Data from
high-stakes assessments, for example,
may actually come after a student has
moved to a new grade and new teacher.
Even grading quizzes or homework takes
so much time that teachers often are
not able to turn around the assignments
quickly enough to change their
instruction for the next day. True data
analysis can also be time-consuming and
difficult using many current assessment
practices and formats.

Tip: Assessment Types

There are two main categories of assessments. Formative

assessments are frequent and ideally embedded within a learning

activity. They provide quick and continual snapshots of student
progress over time. Summative assessments generally occur at

the end of an instructional unit, are generally more formal, and

are often used to determine a final grade or ranking. Both play

key and complementary roles in understanding where students

are on their learning trajectories.

Why is this important? Well-designed formative and summative assessments provide teachers and students
with just-in-time feedback on progress towards mastery of content and allow educators to personalize learning
pathways for their students. With feedback that is almost immediate, educators can strategically adjust
instruction more quickly to meet the needs of diverse learners
What would help? Technology provides a variety of new opportunities to rethink the way we assess student
learning. Tools that help teachers create and share formative assessments, automate grading, and streamline
providing feedback to students allow teachers to focus more of their time on instruction. Expanding assessment
item types (beyond multiple choice questions, etc.) can provide educators with a more detailed and sophisticated
understanding of what their students know and can do. Simulations, heat maps, and ranking are all examples
of technology-enhanced assessment item types that are beginning to be incorporated into digital assessments.
Traditionally, education has struggled to develop meaningful assessments that measure non-cognitive skills
such as persistence, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. (For more information on these skills, see
the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework for Learning.) Consider creating tools that help develop and
assess these kinds of skills.
Aligning assessments with learning goals is crucial to success. Make sure you clearly understand what you are
measuring. It is crucial to measure what is important not simply what is easy to measure.

Opportunity 6: Improving Educator Professional Development

The same personalized, collaborative, anytime/anywhere learning that technology can enable for students
should be available for educators and administrators. Advances in technology can make just-in-time
personalized professional learning available to educators wherever they may be, putting teaching tips and
access to educational experts in their hands. Technology-enabled professional learning can help educators
find setting-specific answers and guidance for helping their students learn. For more on designing online
communities of practice for educators, see the Departments Designing Online Communities of Practice.
12

Why is this important? Educators must constantly learn and improve their teaching skills in order to support
their students. One-size-fits-all professional development sessions cannot meet the specific needs of each
teacher in a school or college. Educators need tools that help them tap into the expertise of their peers by
accessing networks of reliable professional support and resource sharing. This is particularly important for
new and pre-service teachers.
What would help? Tools to help connect educators to one another and to expert educational researchers are key
to effective professional learning in a digital world. In addition, educators need job-embedded, differentiated,
and on-demand access to content that supports their mastery of effective instruction. To be of greatest use,
resources to support educators in their professional learning might include ones that:

connect educators with each other and to educational experts

help teachers reflect on their own practice
provide educators support to master new strategies, techniques and tools
are available on-demand
differentiate for a range of levels of readiness and expertise
curate content so teachers can find appropriate support and ideas quickly
showcase content-specific best practices

Also consider aligning tools and resources to relevant professional standards (e.g., National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards Certificate Areas).
Finally, any tools built for teacher professional development should be designed according to principles of
adult learning and foster a growth mindset similar to the concepts explained above for student learning. The
Connected Educators web page features several channels and tools for helping educators connect to colleagues
across the country.

Opportunity 7: Improving Educator Productivity

In addition to the time spent teaching and interacting with students, educators have enormous administrative
burdens throughout a school yearpreparing lessons, finding teaching materials, grading, reporting,
communicating with parents, and supporting school functions to name a few. When administrative tasks are
streamlined, teachers and leaders can spend more time working with students and deepening their professional
learning. Some ways to boost educator productivity include creating tools that help teachers personalize
learning for students (adjusting instruction for students who need extra time or different learning approaches),
make it easier to provide feedback to students and parents, and helping teachers create, adapt, and share lesson
plans, learning resources, and assessments with other teachers.
Why is this important? Teachers are a critical factor in student success, and helping teachers reduce time spent
on administrative tasks enables them to spend more valuable time with students. Teachers, especially in urban
schools, are at risk of leaving the teaching profession or moving to other schools (as reported in a recent Education
World article). Teachers need custom productivity tools similar to those found in other professions. With these
13

Words of Advice: Become a School Insider

Steven Hodas is the former Executive Director of Innovate NYC Schools, a New York City

Department of Education initiative to foster smart demand and innovative solutions. Hodas has
worked closely with early-stage entrepreneurs and launched two companies of his own.

"Assuming you were not recently a teacher yourself, I suggest that you work hard to get inside the school, inside the

classroom, inside the day-to-day lives of the educators you want to help. If youre resourceful enough to get in, dont
sell. Dont demo. Dont text or tweet. Just watch and listen. Help with a task if you can. Earn the space youre taking
up.

Bring pizza to the teachers lounge. Sit in on a common planning period. Clean up after lunch. Act as if you know

nothing, be humble, and soak up school sounds and rhythms. Go to school board meetings. Join online forums for

parents in your town. Learn what parents and teachers really care about. Until youve done these things, its arrogant
to write code, let alone attempt to sell. Unless youve done these things, the likelihood that you are aiming at
something big is small.

Your solution must manifest your deep understanding of educators daily struggles and small victories. That
understanding is the beginning of empathy, without which you cannot succeed."

tools, teachers will be able to spend more of their time and effort focusing on students and their learning. To
hear what teachers say about their profession and how to reform it, see Educators Lead the Transformation of the
Teaching Profession from the U.S. Department of Education website.
What would help? Apps and tools to help teachers
streamline workflow, personalize instruction,
support needs of diverse students, create and share
lessons, and communicate efficiently with parents
and other stakeholders can all help productivity. To
When developing productivity tools, pay careful
most effectively adjust instruction, teachers need to
attention to how long it will take teachers to
learn a new tool (onboarding). Design in such a
track student progress and identify areas of struggle.
way that time-consuming training or tutorials are
Student performance data are becoming increasingly
not required. Support should be readily available
available to teachers in real time, but without tools
for educators with questions when using a tool.
to help make sense of the data or quickly identify
important trends, it can be too time consuming for
teachers to find the value. Design tools that organize
data visually for easier interpretation. Especially for new teachers, tools that make it easier to discover, modify,
and share learning resources aligned with curricular standards would be a huge time-saver.

Tip: Onboard Quickly

14

Opportunity 8: Making Learning Accessible to All Students

Many students have differing educational needs that must be addressedfrom physical disabilities to acquiring
a new languagein order to learn effectively. They may need special tools to interpret learning content
(e.g., decoding mathematical notation and symbols) or support for taking notes or organizing information
in structured ways. Technology can
increase the ability for students with
differing needs to participate in the
same learning activities as their peers.
App developers can address these needs
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) developed
in three ways. First, functionality can be
Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework for
added to all apps to make them accessible
making curriculum inclusive of flexible approaches that can
to students with diverse needs, such as
be customized and adjusted for individual needs. The CAST
the ability to increase the font size or
guidelines encourage instructional practices and educational
have text read aloud. Second, apps can
content that embrace the widest possible diversity of
be created to address specific learning
learners. The UDL approach encourages the development of
needs, such as providing a digital wordtools that consider this diverse range of users in the original
board to children who can't speak.
design rather than add-on features. To see the guidelines,
Third, tools can personalize learning to
refer to the CAST website.
adapt to a variety of learner needs, such
as providing alternative explanations,
examples, and visualizations to help a
student understand difficult concepts. The National Center for Learning Disabilities is a good place to find
information about learning disabilities, and more on web accessibility can be found at the World Wide Web
Consortium. Accessibility needs to be considered as a feature to be built in from the outset; as these W3C videos
demonstrate, watching users with disabilities navigate learning apps and tools with assistive technologies can
be illuminating.

Universal Design for Learning

Why is this important? Schools normally won't be able

to use your app if it's not accessible to students with
disabilities. The Department of Education has issued
guidance describing how two civil rights laws, Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with
Consider tapping into educators current
Disabilities Act, apply to technology used in schools.
conversations about supporting diverse learners by
When you design with accessibility in mind, not only do
searching hashtags such as #ldchat, #atchat, and
you facilitate school district compliance with civil rights
#spedchat.
laws, but your apps will become much more beneficial to
your users as well, even those who may not have specific
learning disabilities. Consider how entrance ramps to buildings (designed to provide access for people who use
wheelchairs) also benefit children on bicycles or parents pushing strollers. The text description added to a website to
make sure a person who is blind can use a screen reader might also improve searchability for all users of the site. Apps
developed to assist in communication could be a life-changing experience for learners with autism, cerebral palsy, or
Down syndrome. With appropriate technology, English learners (ELs) have the ability to access the same content as

Tip: Useful Hashtags

15

their peers and can leverage their native language and

academic skills to transfer to the work in English, as
shown in this report produced by Cambridge University
Press. Generally, content should be communicable in a
variety of formats so as to increase the applicability of
the tool. Specifically, this may be manifested as delivery
of content in more than one of the following forms: text,
pictures or illustrations, audio, and video (whereas any
one format may be insufficient to meet an individuals
special needs).
What would help? Think about the human-machine
interface you are building. Are there multiple ways
for users to interact with and respond within your
app? Could a user control your app by voice? Will
Using a 3D printer, students at CrossRoads Middle School
it interoperate with a screen reader? Does it take
in Columbia, SC, created a prosthetic hand for Alyssa, an
11-year-old girl from Charleston, SC.
advantage of accessibility settings in device operating
systems? Does your app support varying levels of
complexity, interaction, and support? Making your
content accessible is good. Solving fundamental access problems in communication, organization, and social
interaction is better. Features that customize the delivery of learning must not clutter or confuse the delivery
itself, and so developers may place such settings or controls within a separate functional area of the tool.

Stories From the Field: Designing Ed Tech Products

Stephanie Castilla is the Technology Integration Specialist at the Highlander Institute

where she works with educators on a daily basis to discover models for implementing new
technologies that support teaching and learning.

"Designing ed tech products for schools is an incredibly challenging and rewarding experience. Each day
brings new insights and opportunities as I work with others to define and refine problems and solutions.

When teachers are your target users, it is critical to empathize with their day-to-day work life. Teachers face
increasingly changing expectations. They come to new applications with varying degrees of understanding,
and many times they feel forced to integrate solutions into their classrooms that they themselves did not

choose. With more deadlines, standards, and requirements placed on them, it is incredibly important that

the tools they use not require extensive training or follow-up and, more important, that they genuinely solve
a problem experienced by the teacher and not just by administration. This level of empathy is fundamental
when you design anything for day-to-day use.

Well-designed experiences have the power to make someone's day more productive while providing them with
opportunities to find more enjoyment and inspiration in their work. Ultimately, the key role of a designer
in the ed tech space is to work each and every day to highlight the inherent joy and satisfaction found in
teaching and learning and to maximize the opportunities available to all who seek to experience it."

16

Opportunity 9: Closing Opportunity Gaps

An opportunity gap refers to unequal access to resources or opportunities. Rural students often have less access
to resources found in urban settings such as museums, cultural centers and industry experts, for example. Job
shadowing and internship opportunities may be more limited in many communities. Less wealthy communities
often cannot afford to provide the well-equipped libraries, rich educational experiences, and classroom equipment
and resources found in wealthier communities.
The technology gap is one form of opportunity gap. Despite the growing sense that digital tools are common
in educational settings, access to them is far from equal. While some schools and students have access to topnotch resources, others, such as those in highly impoverished locations, are significantly lagging behind. Without
the tools, content, and connections to high-quality learning tools and experiences, these teachers and students
cannot be expected to provide and experience learning in ways equal to their peers. This opportunity inequity
is addressed in greater detail in the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights October 2014 Dear
Colleague Letter, which focuses on gaps based on race, color, or national origin but could be useful in approaching
any opportunity gap.
Why is this important? All students have the right to an equitable education. This right should not be affected
by geographic location, family income, or any other demographic factor. Apps provide the opportunity for
students to access content and expertise that may not be available within the bounds of a physical school
building.
What would help? While recent years have seen an increase in the amount of open education resources (OER),
many teachers lack the training or time to comb through and evaluate them. The creation of pathways for the
curation of content verified for quality and standards alignment and the sharing of curated sets or playlists would
alleviate unnecessary stress on teachers and increase the availability of low-cost, high-quality learning materials
for all. Additionally, tools designed to help students and teachers access expertise in all areas from curricular
content to improved teaching practices could help better leverage the usefulness of Internet connectivity. Finally,
be mindful of equity of technical accessibility when designing products. Users on slower systems should be able to
access and experience an application or service with the same ease as those using more cutting-edge technology.

Opportunity 10: Closing Achievement Gaps

Achievement gaps occur when one identifiable group of students outperforms another by a significant amount.
For example, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEPthe Nations Report Card) provides data
that show significant gaps in mathematics and reading ability between Hispanic and white students and between
black and white students (results are on the U.S. Department of Educations NAEP website). Gaps can also exist
among groups such as children who are economically disadvantaged, in foster care (as reported by the Los
Angeles Times in Students in Foster Care Face 'Invisible Achievement Gap'), or those belonging to a historically
low-performing group (see the Michigan Department of Educations African American Young Men of Promise
17

Initiative website). Nationwide standardized tests are not the only place where gaps are evident. State and
local assessments along with results from Advanced Placement course completion and testing can also help you
understand achievement gaps and areas of need. For example, computer science Advanced Placement courses
lack significant participation by girls and minorities, a gap described in this 2014 Slate article, No Wyoming
Students Took the AP Computer Science Exam Last Year.
Why is this important? Demographic factors should not systematically limit academic achievement and thereby
future opportunities. All students deserve the chance to pursue college and careers in areas that interest them and
should not be disadvantaged because of gender, race, economic status, or any other factor. Achievement gaps in
the United States have persisted for many years and need to be closed.
What would help? Everything we have discussed to this point can make a difference: helping teachers, involving
parents, strengthening non-cognitive skills, targeting academic subjects, and improving accessibility help to
promote equal education opportunities for all students. Illustrating how your product helps to achieve these goals
while working to close gaps in achievement makes it more compelling to educators and more likely to succeed
in schools.

18

The Design Process:

From Idea to Implementation
Beginning
While the steps below are presented in a suggested order, development of your product may require rearranging
the order and even repeating some of the steps multiple times to refine your vision, plan, product, or research
base. In general, the basic process will look something like the following:
1. Surveying the field for existing products (successful and failed) and getting to know the world and
concerns of your potential end users
2. Beginning from a research base supported by the most current available information from the
learning sciences
3. Iterating your product based on user feedback and experiences
4. Conducting short-cycle efficacy trials to gather data that builds a case to support your products
ability to solve the education problem or dilemma youre attacking. (Given a longer time frame and
greater resources, you may be able to conduct other trials and tests subject to specific regulations.)

Survey the Field

Before you start coding a solution to a particular problem, do your homework to understand what apps and
tools are already attempting to address the same issue. Even if your approach is better, you will want to be able
to contrast it with the status quo.
One way to get a feeling for existing
educational apps and tools is to peruse
app review websites such as the Edtech
Index (by EdSurge) or Graphite (by
Common Sense Media). These provide
a description of the tools developers
have already built and show you, for
example, how crowded the mathematics
and language arts spaces are and how
few apps and tools there are for science,
social studies, and world languages.
19

Spend some time understanding what has

already been tried, what succeeded or failed,
and why (e.g., by browsing the U.S. Department
of Educations repository of reviewed research,
the What Works Clearinghouse). Choose
problems that will have the greatest positive
impact on the intended users.

Talk With Stakeholders

Even before designing a prototype, talk with
teachers, parents, students, and educational
researchers to make sure you are solving the
right problem and that your tool or app will
meet the needs of your intended users. Say
youre creating an app to help teachers assign
tailored practice in reading. Start by visiting
with teachers. Help them do what they do the
way they do it now (i.e., volunteer) so you can
observe what classrooms are like and empathize
with teachers challenges. Talk to parents about
how they support reading at home. Involve
them in the process of developing a solution.
With teacher and parent permission, talk to
students about their experience and the kinds
of features they want or need to allow your
solution to become a seamless part of their learning.

Disruptive Innovation vs.

Incremental Improvement
Many educational apps and tools offer marginal

improvements on existing practice. This often results in a

positive but limited impact. These can be called sustaining

innovations. In contrast, some educational innovations

fall into the category of disruptive innovationsthey go

beyond just improving the current way learning happens

and radically redefine the context, goals, and/or approach

based on the foundations of learning science or other

leaps of insight. According to the Clayton Christensen

Institute for Disruptive Innovation, disruptive products

alter processes and markets, often in unexpected ways,

whereas sustaining innovations automate or simplify

existing processes. There is also a third category, hybrid

innovations; these are solutions that straddle sustaining

and disruptive innovations and are sometimes necessary in

the transition from the status quo to disruptive innovation.
Blended learning may be considered a hybrid innovation

(see Is K12 Blended Learning Disruptive?). Lest you think

that innovation means the end of school as we know it,

read Audrey Watters The Myth and the Millennialism of

"Disruptive Innovation" for a more sober perspective.

Ed tech blogger Audrey Watters created a checklist called, What Every Techie Should Know about Education, for
tech entrepreneurs to assess their understanding
of a variety of topics relevant to building tools
for schools. The checklist explains the work that
has led to this point in the ed tech movement
Games can engage students while teaching important
and provides some food for thought for aspiring
concepts and skills. Games for learning work best
entrepreneurs.

Tip: Games for Learning

when they dont feel like a homework assignment. If

you are designing a game for learning, dont forget

to build tools to help teachers and parents see what

students are learning through the gameplay. A

general guide is to develop a game that students

want to keep playing once they leave the classroom

and teachers wont ask students to put away when
they enter the classroom. This means striking a
careful balance between game design, learning
sciences, analytics, and demonstrable efficacy.

Once you reach the prototype stage, get as much

feedback as possible as you move through testing
your assumptions. Along the way, it is essential
to continue to engage your intended users as you
refine your app or tool. One approach for this is
to create simple mock-ups of the tool or app that
you are planning to develop, including user-case
scenarios that are examples of how students and
teachers might actually use the technology in a
20

classroom setting. With these in hand, you can conduct

more formal user-concept testing, where users provide
feedback in a survey or through a structured or guided
interview. Once you have this feedback, you can write
up the results from this research and have a brief ready
to show future funders or stakeholders to demonstrate
that the concept has been formally vetted by its
potential users and is ready for the next step.
Many educators are looking for innovative ways to
integrate useful tools into their teaching. A challenge
is identifying, organizing, and, if appropriate,
compensating these early evangelists. In the end, the
insights they provide into what teachers want may
make the difference between success and irrelevance
for your tool or app.

Tip: Talking to Teachers

Brett Kopf, cofounder of ed tech startup

Remind101 and alumnus of the Imagine K12

accelerator, creates services built on three

principles: talk to users, build a simple product,

and solve a real problem. He provides tips on

how to connect with 100+ educators and the

questions to ask to refine your app in the article

Confirming the Problem: Talking to Teachers
from edtechhandbook.com.

Base Your Design on Learning Principles and Evidence

In developing educational tools and apps, it is important to build on the foundation laid by decades of education
research. Too often apps are well coded and fully functional but are based on learning theories that researchers
debunked years ago, so they underperform in their core purpose. Consider the following key concepts and
resources as you create your app.

Tip: How to Find

Teachers for Feedback
In an article on the Edtech Handbook website,

How to Find K-12 Teachers for Product Feedback,

Mike Lee, co-founder of edshelf, gives specific tips

for how to identify and engage educators to obtain

that critical feedback you need when youre getting

started. In his words:

You may be surprised to hear that there are

many enterprising educators out there. I dont

mean they are profit seeking; I mean they are

inventive, progressive, and oftentimes tech-savvy.

Some call them edupreneurs, some call them

teacherpreneurs. Whatever you call them, as a

startup, you can see them as innovators or early

adopters.

Learning sciences. Learning sciences are related

to instructional design, cognitive science, and brain
research. Learning scientists study factors that
enhance or impede different kinds of learning and the
best ways to engage learners for maximum impact in
minimal time. These researchers have made significant
progress in understanding learning in ways that are
highly relevant to designing educational software.
Developers who are not aware of the foundations of
cognitive science, instructional design, or the learning
sciences can miss out on opportunities for high-impact
design and ways to systematically build in features
from the collection of effectiveness data that can
help them improve their product. To get an idea as to
whether your product is aligned with the core tenets
of learning science research listed below, try using a
checklist like Kaplans Educational Product Evaluation
Checklist.
Research-based design principles. Here are some
resources to get you started with lessons from research
21

about designs for learning. Having a researcher on your team or collaborating with a research group can help you
successfully apply these principles.
The U.S. Department of Educations Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes guides for educators
that summarize recommendations for teaching and learning based on research results. A list of these
practice guides can be found on the IES website. In addition, the Department updated its General
Administrative Regulations to encourage greater use of evidence in grant programs, which this EdWeek

Words of Advice: Capturing the Attention of Influencers

Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) is a full-time teacher at Westwood Schools in Camille, Georgia. She is

also the author of Reinventing Writing, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds and the popular Cool
Cat Teacher Blog.

"The best companies are those that engage in conversation with teachers. Startups that have products and

services crafted and advised by real teachers will always get an in with influencers. Remember, influencers
will only give your product just a few minutes of time before moving on or looking deeper.

Customer service is important. Successful startups I have had experiences with answer the emails of teachers
who are starting to use their services and respond to classroom needs.

Genuine contributors to conversation are always rewarded in educational spaces. There is a massive

movement of educators to connect and contribute in online spaces via Twitter chats and other places, and

watching these conversations is a virtual focus group for you to glean knowledge to make your company more
successful. Add your moving part to the engine of positive change rather than trying to siphon off valuable
resources for a need that doesnt exist."

Stories From the Field: Getting Teacher Input

Drew Minock teaches at Eastover Elementary in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is also a leader in the
field of augmented reality in education.

"Last year, my colleague Brad Waid and I were looking for a digital tool to document student work. After

extensive research, we finally discovered a smartphone app that let us collect and organize student work in
photos, videos, or audio.

After sharing the app on social media, the app creator contacted me to thank me for sharing my experiences.
I took this opportunity to offer some suggestions for improving the tool from a teachers point of view. Since
then, we have had several conversations to discuss the continued improvement of the app and have put the
creators in contact with other educators for their feedback. It is exciting to know our voice and opinions

as educators are valued and respected and have the potential to help students all over the world engage in
deeper, more meaningful learning experiences."

22

article summarizes.
Research and practical experience combine
to produce an excellent set of best practices
for childrens app development on the
Sesame Workshop website.
Two accessible and comprehensive books
regarding learning from the National
Research Council are How People Learn and
Knowing What Students Know, which outline
the science and design of educational
assessments.
The Pittsburgh Science Learning Center has
created a wiki with a set of instructional
principles as well as some hypotheses that
are still under study. A short article from the
center published in Science (subscription
required) describes how to manage the
complex search space that results from
varying principles related to instructional
timing, techniques used, and amount of time
spent learning.
The American Psychological Association
website includes an article by cognitive
scientist Art Graesser outlining principles
that research has shown increase student
gains.
The Hewlett Foundation has supported
efforts to promote deeper learning and
provides this list of resources on its website.
Learning and design frameworks. As a developer,
you may find that teachers will refer to particular
learning or design frameworks when describing their
classroom and learning goals. Here is an introduction
to some common frameworks to help you understand
how educators think about instruction.
Blooms Taxonomy. Blooms Taxonomy of
educational objectives (revised in 2001) is
well known for defining successively deeper
levels of learning. The taxonomy suggests that
students develop higher order thinking skills
as they move from knowledge to application
and on to evaluating and creating, using

Tip: Design Thinking

If you are an educator looking to build an app

or tool, consider using Design Thinking to help

unleash your creativity and zero in on effective

solutions. Design Thinking is a structured process

for generating and developing ideas that can help

you work with others to build meaningful solutions

to problems in the classroom, at school, and in
the community. The design firm IDEO offers a

free Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit on its

website and a course on the process and methods

of Design Thinking. Explore this toolkit and begin

brainstorming solutions for your problem.

Using Research to
Inform Design
Teachley was founded in 2012 by Kara Carpenter,
Dana Pagar, and Rachael Labrecque, former
researchers at Teachers College at Columbia

University, who bring educational research to

game design. Their company won an Apple

Design Award and was featured on NBC

Education Nation.

"We integrate research into each design stage,

from comprehensive literature reviews to formal

evaluative studies. Our designs target key strategies

from cognitive research that improve math learning.

For example, extensive studies show that students
with math learning difficulties tend to use less
sophisticated strategies than typical students,

which negatively impacts future learning. Our apps

promote advanced strategy acquisition through the

use of carefully designed virtual manipulatives that

draw from this research. Developing high-quality

educational software requires that designers consider

the research on childrens cognitive development,
pedagogy, the subtleties and complexities of the
content, and technological affordances."

23

factual and conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and metacognitive knowledge (strategies and
self-knowledge). For an overview, see Vanderbilts Center for Teaching resources on Blooms Taxonomy.
Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner proposed eight distinct types of intelligences or mental faculties
linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and
naturalisticand further proposed that every individual possesses a unique combination of them. Teaching,
he believed, should nurture many of these intelligences. (Multiple intelligences are commonly misconceived
to be modes of processing information for learning, leading to such claims as that a person with a particular
intelligence should be taught primarily or exclusively through means that cater to that intelligence. This has
not proven to be the case.)
Understanding by Design. Understanding by Design (UbD) is a framework for curriculum design
that starts with identifying important curriculum goals, such as developing enduring understandings,
maps these to evidence that students can show to demonstrate skills and knowledge, and then links
that evidence to learning experiences that develop the skills and knowledge. ASCD's website provides
resources and publishes books and workbooks to support UbD.

Use Data to Improve Your Design

You have surveyed the field, gathered stakeholder input, applied lessons from the learning sciences, and you
now have an early prototype. Next, you need to try it out, gather data systematically, and use the data to iterate
on the design. Where feasible, you can multiply your efforts by doing this in a partnership with researchers
and teachers (see Design Thinking as a Design Process on page 29). Whatever your approach, if you objectively
examine the data, you will find that you can improve
your products positive impact faster.

Iterate Design to Create

a Minimally Viable Product
User feedback is important at all stages of app and
tool design. Iterative design is the process of using
short feedback loops to define assumptions, create
prototypes, and obtain early user feedback, first to
validate the need for your app or tool (or invalidate
it, saving time, money, and other resources) and later
to improve its usability and impact.
Educational apps and tools have different target
audiences than those for the consumer market.
Whether your app or tool is for a student, teacher,
district, state, or national stakeholder, be aware
that each has varying needs and operates under
different constraints in the highly regulated and
procedure-driven education domain. Using lean
startup approaches, you can obtain feedback on your

Beware of
Learning Styles
Learning styles, the idea that there are specific sensory
approaches to learning that differ among people

(e.g., left-brain and right-brain learners, visual versus

auditory learners) and that presentation modalities
should be matched to those styles, is a popular but

unproven notion. The theory of multiple intelligences is

often confused with learning styles, but in a Washington
Post article Multiple Intelligences are not Learning

Styles, Howard Gardner decidedly separates the two.

Learning styles have remained popular even though
there is no research supporting their existence. This

American Association of Psychological Science article,

"Learning Styles Debunked" describes a study that

reviewed all the research literature on learning styles

and found no evidence that using learning styles in
instruction aids learning.

24

project and steer key development earlier. This reduces the risk of investing time, money, talent, and passion
on an app or tool that may not work in an education context. You will find elements of the lean startup
approach embraced at Education Enterpreneurs events (formerly Startup Weekend Edu, see event listings at
EducationEntrepreneurs.co) as well as by incubators and accelerators.

Reflections From a Developer on

Creating Games for Learning
Dan Norton is the chief creative officer and a founder of Filament Games, a company that has been

funded by the SBIR program at the Department of Education and Institute of Education Sciences. He has

designed games about a broad range of topics, from marine turtle ecology to legal argumentation, that
have won numerous industry awards and have been played millions of times in classrooms across the
country.

"Who doesnt like a good game? From chess to bowling to

flapping (possibly even angry) birds, games have permeated

our culture. With social and mobile technology infusing every

aspect of our life, even Grandma has been known to cultivate a

virtual farm or crush some candy from time to time.

For people who love games, this is great news. But now that
games are accepted as a mainstream medium, how can we
use them in educational contexts?

Firstly, the game should be about more than just having a good
time. When evaluating a game for the classroom, the gold

standard to ask is: Does mastering this game mean students will
have mastered the learning objectives?

Secondly, games can ask you to step into the role of a hero:

They create identities that give purpose. Games elevate writers,

scientists, thinkers, and problem solvers to champion status. Students want to know why learning material mattersand

games help paint that picture! Ask yourself if the game is granting players an identity that complements or empowers the
learning objectives.

Finally, games are, at their heart, simply a set of rules that players must follow. Think of these rules as a system/
simulation and players as researchers testing the boundaries of the simulation through play. This makes games
well suited to express complicated, systems-driven concepts often found in science and math. Think about the
rules of the game you are evaluating and see if they represent the learning space accurately.

When educators evaluate games, they think of them as an opportunity to connect, create context, and inspire

students, not to entertain or distract. When evaluating games to use in classrooms, teachers are looking not for
temporary diversions, but powerful new tools they can use to enhance the entire curriculum."

25

The lean startup approach follows the principles of Agile software development (see agilemethodology.org).
It consists of a rapid-cycle efficacy trial driven by a customer development process and is used to verify that
a need exists for the product and then to incrementally advance the product from that starting point. Short
iterations and fast testing of assumptions drive product development more efficiently than long development
times. A shorter development time leads to the creation of a minimum viable product (MVP), a bare-bones
version with limited critical features to seek customer feedback. The MVP is then continually refined by testing
assumptions against customer feedback and incorporating the results in the next version.

Stories From the Field:

Design Thinking in Education with Design EDU
Alex Hernandez is a partner at the Charter School Growth Fund where he leads the funds
Next Generation Charter Management Organization investments

"Many of us entered the field of education to change kids lives, and the lucky among us can name former
students for whom we made a real difference. Whats hard about innovation in education? Changing our
teaching practices. Changing our schools. Changing our beliefs about what is possible for children. We

launched Design EDU because we meet so many educators who believe that betterness in education is

possible and crave a community to support their ideas for innovation. We help educators use design thinking
to bring their ideas to life.

Design thinking is a problem-solving approachnot a silver bulletused in many industries to come up with
creative approaches and solutions to problems. In a nutshell, spend a ton of time getting to know your end

users (in education, students and families), identify a problem worth solving, rapidly test potential solutions,
gather feedback, and keep doubling-down on whats working.

Innovators who relentlessly focus on peoples needs find themselves in unexpected places. When thinking

about peoples need to travel more efficiently and more quickly, Henry Ford didnt try to create a faster horse.
He built something altogether new that met the need in a way that no one had anticipated. Steve Jobs made
the iPod because he believed there were better ways for people to listen to music.

In education, there is a growing belief that schools can be more personalized, more creative, more challenging,
more supportive...just better. We dont need more committees and strategic plans. We do need to support our
most innovative educators with a community of like-minded and inspired peers, the tools to bring their ideas
to life, and the space to prototype new ideas and see what kids do with them.

One way we support our educators is through community dinners, where teachers describe an innovation
they are working on at their school and identify a challenge in that work. A group of peers uses a design

thinking process to surface different ways to get unstuck and keep the innovation going. I love this activity
because it puts teachers at the center, starts positively with an innovation already under way, and empowers

the community to help one another. It turns out innovation, inspiration, and community make the business of
changing lives a little easier."

26

Rapid Feedback Through Built-in

Measures of Effectiveness

Design-Based Research

To iterate on your design, you need to collect good

Design-based research is an approach that bridges
data to make sure your app or tool is effective.
theory and practice in educational research. Ideas
Its often best to measure knowledge and attitudes
are designed, implemented, and evaluated in
before and after your app or tool is used. The U.S.
iterative cycles, where new ideas are identified
Department of Educations Expanding Evidence
and evaluated with each cycle. This approach
report details ways of documenting evidence of
requires collaboration with educational researchers
the effectiveness of digital learning tools. One
throughout the design process and can be highly
example is built-in A/B tests (or short-cycle
beneficial for creating an effective solution.
efficacy trials) in which one set of users tries one
version of the app and another set tries another,
and you compare the two groups to see which had better outcomes on a specific task. These built-in A/B tests
for educational effectiveness can help optimize product impacts on behaviors internal to the product (e.g.,
number of items attempted or percentage correct on embedded assessments), but at some point developers
need to find out whether they are also optimizing against the external measures that are valued in education
(such as standardized tests, course completion and mastery of learning). Several platforms for education are
testing these approaches with regional ed tech innovation hubs, as described in this EdWeek article on efficacy
trials for personalized learning. Short feedback cycles can help you test such questions as What are our criteria
for going on to the next level? or Do we need interactive or static diagrams?

Tip: Let Students Break It

Incorporation of student feedback is imperative to the

design of a new tool or app. Student input helps avoid

building with inaccurate assumptions and instead

uses relevant knowledge and experience to drive your

designs. The quality of the feedback you gather is also

critical. For feedback to be truly valuable, you need

to give students the opportunity to explore whatever

youve created in depth. Avoid feedback gathered from

a limited experience designed to be "indicative of the
larger experience," and avoid asking questions with
simple yes or no answers.

Dig deeper, and let students explore. Allow students

to be brutally honest about what youve developed and

allow them to analyze their experience using it. Let

them find loopholes and shortcuts or tell you what's

fun and what is boring. Listen to their feedback as they

go. If they are not engaged or satisfied when you let

them loose with what youve got now, they will not be

engaged or satisfied when they must use it for class later.

Demonstrate the benefits of your app or tool

by showing it has an effect on an outcome that
matters to schools. If you are asking a school
to use your creation for a significant amount of
instructional time, you will need evidence that
it works before many schools will take such a
risk. Demonstrating that your app or tool has
an effect on student learning, engagement,
struggling learners, minority subgroups, or
other variables that schools are evaluated on
and receive funding for will make a school
much more likely to try your tool.
Some developers make the mistake of assuming
that time spent using their app or tool is
evidence that students are learning rather than
actually measuring student learning. If finding
and building in measures of learning outcomes
are not prioritized early, developers can slip
into poor design choices because the feedback
they use to measure success isnt about
learning. In contrast, well-conceived, targeted
data collection strategies make it possible to
27

measure effects such as long-term retention and

preparation for future learning.
Depending on what your app or tool does, you
will need to determine the best way to measure
effectiveness. If you are trying to improve learning
in academic subjects, in addition to demonstrating
that you are aligned with relevant college and
career ready standards, the tests, quizzes, and
checks for understanding you provide must be
validated against the measures educators care
about: their own classroom assessments as well as
standardized tests. If you are looking to support
non-cognitive factors such as grit, persistence, and

Students test games at White House Education Game Jam

Stories From the Field: Getting Student Feedback

Dr. Alice Wilder is an Educational Psychologist, Television Producer, Writer of Blues Clues,
Super WHY!, and co-creator of Think It Ink It Publishing. Her innovative approach to
research with children is cited in Malcom Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

"Using technology to learn, children can become immersed in what feels like play but is in fact a powerful and
often personalized learning experience. Consider a well-designed digital story for preschoolers. A tablet can

take the story beyond static images and words on a page. Text highlighting, animation, and narrative prompts
help bring stories to life in ways impossible with print books.

My philosophy for developing high-quality content for children is that the only way to know what kids like,
what they understand, what challenges them, and what they learn from is to ask them. This has been a

fundamental part of my research process in developing Blues Clues, Super WHY!, and now Speakaboos. We

take a similar approach when considering the benefits and drawbacks of learning from technology: by asking
students and teachers.

This process, known as formative research, involves testing every piece of content many times during

development. After each content assessment, formative researchers provide the creators, producers, writers,

and directors with direct feedback from kids. Based on that feedback, the mission and goals of the content, the
mission of the writer, and learning theory, our team improves the content. We involve our target audience in
the development because ultimately the product is for them, and the insights that they give us along the way
make a huge difference in the end product.

We also engage an outside evaluator to conduct summative research on our content. In each and every

instance in which we have had this opportunity, we have seen great success. Talking and listening to kids

who are your target audience is the best and most joyful way to make effective learning environments. When
learning is comprehensible, interactive, and engaging, then kids want to learn. And they will offer amazing

ideas that will enhance your lessons, offer new additional ideas, and make teaching and learning more fun."

28

Design Thinking as a Design Process

Stanford d.school teaches Design Thinking a Design Process. Essentially, Stanford advocates that Design
Thinking is creating a more desirable future and a process to take action when faced with a difficult
challenge, a creative optimism well-needed in education. Classrooms and schools across the world are
facing design challenges every single daythe challenges educators are confronted with are real, complex,
and varied. And as such, they require new mindsets, new tools, and new approaches. Here are steps in the
Stanford d.school Design Thinking Process:
Step 1: Empathy = Really get to know your user

Use human-centered design process, which puts the user squarely at the center of the process. When designing, you
start with identifying who you want to design for (your user) and really get to know them.
3 ways to get to know our user:

Observation (what we observe them doing, in the environment we want to design for as well as in other
similar and different environments, so we really get to know how they live and work, what they value, etc.,
and can use that to help us design solutions to problems that matter to them in ways that work for them)
Immersion (we walk in our users shoes, until we can experience firsthand the challenges they face that
can inform our design)
Interviews (we listen to their stories to hear how they experience the challenges and opportunities they
face, we focus on feelings in addition to facts, and we listen beyond what we hear directly).

Dont make average products for average people. If your users have a name and youve walked in their shoes, you
can both design for them as well as get their feedback along the way.
Step 2: Define = Define the problem your user is having that you want to solve

We always define the problem from the users perspective. Solve the problem they actually have, not the one
you thought they have.
Reframe. Identify the underlying cause of a problem and solve that. If you only solve for the symptoms but
dont understand the true nature of the problem, you are less likely to create solutions that matter.
Aim for the Goldilocks Zone. Not too broad. Not too narrow.

Step 3: Ideate = Open up the solution set

Ignore feasibility at this stage. An awesome but infeasible idea at this stage may lead you to a breakthrough
idea you never would have considered.
Go for quantity. Like taking pictures, the best way to get a good idea is to generate a lot of ideas.

Embrace radical collaboration. A wider variety of ideas is generated from diverse minds. Find colleagues in
different fields, different age groups, with differing perspectives.
Go for wild ideas. Unleash your creativity.
Step 4: Prototype & Test

The best way to get feedback on an idea is to watch someone experience your solution. So what can you
create quickly that someone else can experiencetoday?

Identify an important aspect of your solution, find a way to let someone experience its essence, and observe
what they do.
Step 5: Iterate
On day 1 your solution is OK at best. By the time you launch, your solution will be AMAZING because it will
really solve their problem!

29

self-regulation, psychological measures of these traits are necessary. In measuring parental engagement, you
will need to use before and after measures: How much were parents engaged before using your app or tool, and
was your tool or app the cause of the increased engagement? You can see that collecting data to make claims
about impact requires planning and persistence if the outcomes you are trying to affect are not immediate.

Evaluate Impact
Rigorous evaluation takes time and careful thought and often needs to be conducted by a third party to ensure
credibility.
To meet the highest standards, researchers will want to identify a comparison group that is not using your
product but is similar in every way to help them estimate, and isolate, the effect of the use of your app or
tool from other factors that may also influence the outcome of interest. For example, when researchers ask,
What was the impact of a tool on a particular outcome? what they really mean is, How did students do after
participating in learning with the tool relative to how they would have done had they not participated? Because
researchers cannot observe how students would have done without the program, they select a set of similar
control schools and students to use as a proxy. The idea is that if the control schools match the tool-using schools
(aka, the treatment schools) closely, and if a difference is found in outcomes between tool-using and control
schools, then that difference can be
attributed to the tool and not some
other factor such as school wealth
or demographic disparities. In
most cases, the more similar the
treatment and control schools are,
the stronger the case that the tool
or app made the crucial difference.
Random assignment to create the
comparison groups is the preferred
approach but is not always feasible,
so other matching techniques
are often used. It is important to
understand and acknowledge their
limitations when making claims
about the impact or effectiveness of
your app or tool.

Teacher provides feedback to an entrepreneur at an ed tech summit in Baltimore

Gauge carefully how much and when to invest or when to partner with an organization to evaluate impact.
For example, if you expect that students will use your app or tool on their own time, on the bus, at home, and
its free, evaluation could be considered low stakes/low risk. You should still collect data on how it is used
but will not need to make an airtight case for its educational impact. If you expect that your solution will be
adopted in the classroom as a regular practice, however, the burden of providing evidence of positive effects is
substantially higher, and you will need to anticipate a substantial investment in demonstrating effectiveness.
In the latter case, you are entering a complex school ecosystem with a host of conditions and practices that your
app or tool may be disrupting. These factors can include classroom cultures that teachers have established, the
30

teachers role as an information provider and assessor, and norms for technology use. If you are trying to alter
standard education practice, you may find that your solution morphs when implemented in the current system
because of the momentum of existing practice pushing against the changes you envision.
Developing technology innovations using effectiveness research studies is often very challenging for developers
because the studies generally take a long time to complete. By the time a large randomized controlled trial
(RCT) is complete and reported, the technology is likely to have been updated multiples times. To move
to the market more quickly, short-cycle efficacy trials can provide a research feedback loop with minimal
development delays.
It may take some give and take for teachers and school officials to figure out how to adapt your app or tool
to their specific needs and conditions. If youre interested in educational theories about how teachers adopt
technology, look into this explanation of TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge) or SAMR
(substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition), which help teachers think about their levels of
technology adoption.
Once you have a successful instance of seamless adoption and demonstrated impact, convincing users becomes
much easier.

Ensuring Privacy and Protecting Student Data

While this guide will introduce the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other federal
laws, keep in mind that FERPA is a floor for privacy protection, and many states have enacted more restrictive
student privacy rules. It is best to assume that the student information you collect in your app is statutorily
confidential, unless it is de-identified, and to build privacy and data security features into your app. The last
thing any developer wants is for your privacy practices to spark a controversy in school districts that use your
product.

Be Transparent
As a start, you should minimize the data your product collects by asking which data points are absolutely
necessary. For those that make the cut, prepare a rationale for the inclusion of each data point so that you can
make your case to educators and families. Rather than waiting for questions or potential criticism of your data
collection, be transparent with schools and families about what you are doing with student data, why the data
have educational value, and what safeguards are in place to protect the data. You can post this information
on your website, as well as write your terms of service agreements in plain language. Your public information
should outline how your product aligns with state and local privacy statutes, as well as the federal statutes
outlined below. In preparing your terms of service, you might consider the Model Terms of Service guidance
issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

Student Data and Privacy

While not every app or tool aimed at schools is intended for student use, many learning apps do rely on the use
of student data in one form or another. Ed tech developers must be aware of how data privacy, confidentiality,
and security practices affect students; privacy laws and best practices exist to keep children safe while using
31

innovative technology services. It is critical that software developers understand these laws and practices and
implement appropriate safeguards for student data. Not considering them is irresponsible and in some cases
illegal.
FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) gives parents the right to access and seek to amend
their childrens education records as well as protects personally identifiable information in education records.
These parental rights transfer to the student when the student turns 18 years old or attends a postsecondary
institution at any age. (Students to whom FERPA rights have transferred are termed eligible students.)
FERPA generally requires that prior written consent of parents or eligible students be obtained before schools
can share personally identifiable information from a students education records unless an exception applies.
If your product is being used in a school, you should review PTAC's Protecting Student Privacy While Using
Online Educational Services: Requirements and Best Practices for guidance regarding legal requirements and
best practices.
It is important to note that schools and teachers that use apps with a click wrap terms of service agreement
must still comply with FERPA. Schools that use apps will almost always be contracting with app developers
using the school official exception, meaning that the developer can only use the student education records in
accord with their arrangement with the school and the school has to have a legitimate educational interest
in entering into the arrangement. Marketing unrelated products to students and parents is not a legitimate
educational interest.
App developers should explore whether using de-identified data for research and product development is a
possibility, as de-identified data is not covered by FERPA. Keep in mind, however, that it can be challenging
to truly de-identify student data, and de-identification typically will require removing the school code, as well
as name, date of birth, and other more obvious identifiers. More details can be found at the U.S. Department
of Education FERPA website.
COPPA (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) governs online collection of personal information
from children under age 13. For example, before an app can collect any information from students under
13, verifiable parental consent is required. The
Federal Trade Commission, which enforces COPPA,
has said that school officials can act in the capacity
of a parent to provide consent to sign students up for
online educational programs at school. The general
The U.S. Department of Education has
guidance is that software companies are allowed
established a Privacy Technical Assistance
to track students within their program, but COPPA
Center (PTAC) website as a one-stop resource
prevents them from tracking those students across

Tip: Privacy Support

the Internet. More details can be found on the FTCs

COPPA compliance FAQs.

for education stakeholders to learn about data

CIPA (the Children's Internet Protection Act)

imposes several requirements on schools or libraries
that receive E-rate discounts for Internet access.
Schools and libraries must certify that they have
an Internet safety policy that includes technology
protection measures. These protection measures must

systems and other uses of student data. PTAC

privacy, confidentiality, and security practices

related to student-level longitudinal data

provides information and up-to-date guidance

on privacy, confidentiality, and security

practices through a variety of resources. Do not

hesitate to contact PTAC.

32

block or filter Internet access to pictures that are obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors, and schools
must also monitor the online activities of minors.
Because most schools receive E-rate funds, they are required to educate their students about appropriate online
behavior, including on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and to build cyberbullying awareness.
Particularly if your app involves networking among students, keep that in mind and consider ways that you can
help schools comply. More details caon be found on the Federal Communications Commissions CIPA FAQs.
PPRA (the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment) is intended to protect the rights of parents and students
including, but not limited to, requiring that public elementary and secondary schools make instructional
materials available for parents inspection if those materials will be used in connection with a survey, analysis,
or evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Education and in which their children will participate. The
PPRA requires that public elementary and secondary schools obtain parental consent before minor students
participate in certain types of Department-funded surveys, analyses, or evaluations. The PPRA also requires
that public elementary and secondary schools provide parents, upon request, a right to review any survey
created by a third party before the survey is administered or distributed by a school to a student and generally
requires them to provide notice to parents along with the opportunity to opt their children out of activities
involving the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the purpose of
marketing or for selling that information (or otherwise providing that information to others for that purpose).
More details can be found at the Department's PPRA website.
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) also provides confidentiality protections, and will often
additionally protect information for students with disabilities.

Special Considerations for Research

In some cases, you may need to collect personally identifiable information (PII) in order to conduct research on
your app or service. If your research involves human subjects (students, teachers, parents, or administrators,
etc.), you should acquaint yourself with the rules for consent. The Departments regulations can be found at
34 CFR Part 97.
For more guidance on using human subjects in research, see Protection of Human Subjects in Research from the
U.S. Department of Education.

33

Networking and Funding

Even the best ideas benefit from the vetting and support of experienced people who can contribute advice,
expertise, and early financial resources until you achieve self-sufficiency. This section describes how to find
people who can help you shape your idea, reach your target audience, and create a sustainable model to
support the work you want to accomplish.

Finding Like-Minded People

Community is essential to ed tech entrepreneurs for idea sharing, funding opportunities, and scaling. Several
organizations are creating thriving communities committed to harnessing the power of the technology to
transform the way students and lifelong learners achieve their educational goals. You can find them via
meetups, hackathons, startup weekends, social networks, and (un)conferences.
Education hackathons are education-related developer events often organized by co-working spaces or
incubators and accelerators. Sometimes universities will also sponsor hackathons through their business or
education programs. If you cant find an education hackathon in your region, consider hosting your own
following the guidelines at edtechhandbook.com.
Education Entrepreneurs Startup Weekends are 54-hour events that bring together educators, entrepreneurs,
developers, and designers to design and validate an ed tech solution over the course of a weekend. These
events are a great way to determine if your idea has enough validity for you to continue building. If you
cant find a Startup Weekend Education near you, consider organizing your own using guidelines from
EducationEntrepreneurs.co.
Ed tech meetups, like other meetups, are
open meetings with a social impact component
followed by speakers, panelists, etc., who are
drawn from the local community. Held as often
as weekly in some cities, ed tech meetups can
be informal opportunities for educators and
entrepreneurs to explore topics at the intersection
of education and technology, to learn about the
technologies supporting teachers, and to hear
from teachers about problems in education.
You can find ed tech meetups in your area by
searching meetup.com for for keywords like ed

EdCamp co-founder Kristen Swanson joins Secretary Arne Duncan

at an EdCamp at the U.S. Department of Education

34

tech or education technology. If youre considering organizing your own meetup, you may find the article
Bringing the Baltimore Charm to Your Edtech Meetup helpful.
EdCamps are designed and driven by educator participants. Collectively the group begins the day by determining
what they want to discuss and learn from each other and then organizing sessions throughout the day on these topics.
EdCamps can be great opportunities to learn from educators where they struggle, where their pain points are, and what
tools they might need. It is important to respect the culture of EdCamps; these events are not sales opportunities but
rather learning opportunities. The EdCamp Foundation offers suggestions for organizing your own EdCamp.
Unconferences, like EdCamps, are participant-driven professional learning events that reject the format of
traditional conference and professional development experiences. In typical unconferences, the participants set
the agenda and topics, and the event includes open time for discussions and collaboration.
Other ways to connect and keep up with ed tech, such as at traditional conferences and on social networks,
are listed later in this guide.

Ed Tech Incubators and Accelerators

Incubators and accelerators help speed up the process of creating and distributing a tool or service. Both
provide mentorship and a community workspace for participants. Some support recruiting and developing
strategic partnerships.. Both typically offer participants reduced-cost services (e.g., cloud web services, legal,
marketing, graphic design, etc.) through partner companies. However there are also some key differences
between the two.
Accelerators provide seed funding and media exposure, often to more experienced entrepreneurs. Accelerators
prepare participants to for a major milestoneusually the ability to attract a large investment round.
Accelerators take small amounts of equity in return for funding and mentorship. The goal is to scale fast and
rapidly increase the value of your tool or product over a course of three- to four-months,.
Incubators, on the other hand, bring in an external management team to foster an idea that was developed
internally. The goal of incubators is to help build a company. Incubators take little or no equity in the company,
which is an important consideration if your goal is to retain control of your business or prepare to participate
in an accelerator program. The table that follows shows the general distinctions between incubators and
accelerators.
Education-focused incubators and accelerators have sprung up in recent years. EdSurge maintains a list of
education incubators and accelerators in North America. Developers with a novel idea for solving an education
problem are often drawn to an incubator or accelerator for quick capital, access to schools, access to investors,
software development expertise, or experience in the complex world of school distribution. It can be difficult
to be accepted into an incubator, and being part of one does not guarantee success. Consider your needs and
speak with startup founders who exited an incubator about their experiences before you join.

35

Comparison of Incubators and Accelerators

Incubators

Accelerators

Cost of participation

Models vary from no cost to to paid

services (frequently in the ~$3,000 range)
to services in exchange for equity.

Commonly offer a suite of services in

exchange for equity (usually 68%).

Program funding

Likely to be not-for-profit efforts, often

funded by government, philanthropic
foundations, or other not-for-profit
organizations. However, can also be
for-profit, operated by investors or other
businesses.

Likely to be for-profit efforts operating

on models similar to early-stage
venture capital firms. Most have their
own investors. Inquire about investor
relationships or obligations inherited by
participating in the program.

Length of program

Likely to be longer term (often a year or

more) or offer open-ended participation
based on milestone achievement.

Programs typically last about 3 months.

Common traits

Tend to attract participants that have

products that are further along in the
development process. Participation on site
may not be required.

Generally perceived as intensive programs,

and many participants are in the very early
stage of product development. Participants
are typically required to be present on site.

Seed funding

Generally not offered.

Typically provide $15$25k seed funding,

and may guarantee additional funding
upon completion.

When should you

participate?

If you have schedule constraints that

prevent the commitment an accelerator
requires, if you expect your company
to grow organically and dont need
outside investment, or if your idea is not
sufficiently developed to be accepted
by an accelerator, you may consider
participating in an incubator.

If you expect your company to grow

rapidly and reach high scale in a short
timeperhaps before youve generated
significant revenueand/or you will
outside investor capital to launch, you may
consider participating in an accelerator
over an incubators.

Adapted from Heather Gilchrist of Socratic Labs. Used with permission.

Other Funding Opportunities

Once your app or tool is beyond a minimally viable product with a small set of users, you may need additional
funding to continue to develop it and scale it to serve more users.
Crowdfunding is a way to raise money by asking
for small contributions from many supporters, often
those in your personal network. In return, project
supporters typically receive early versions of your
tool or other related items. A modest donation may
result in a free T-shirt, whereas a more substantial
donation may result in a free subscription to your
app or service. Crowdfunding can also be an effective
way to reach out to potential beta testers. There are a

Tip: Crowdfunding
A few education developers have been down the
crowdfunding path and share the good, the bad,

and the ugly of their experiences on the Education

Times website. Read about the experiences of

BrightLoop and Odyssey Initiative.

36

variety of crowdfunding platforms to choose from, including CrowdTilt, IndieGoGo, and Kickstarter. Each has
its own style of campaigns and backers, so youll have to do some homework to select the one that best fits you
and your tool. Keep in mind that the models are often all or nothing, so if you dont meet your funding goal,
you might walk away empty-handed. You can also check out CrowdsUnite, a review site for crowdfunding
platforms.
Grants and innovation funds can also be resources for development or testing in the field. Although the
application process is more involved than crowdfunding, grants can offer a chance to work more formally
with new partners (such as research institutions or school districts). Here are a few examples of government
innovation programs and foundations:
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a federal initiative that enables small
businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its
commercialization (as described on the SBIR website). Through SBIR, 11 federal agencies, including
the Department of Education, fund R&D projects that stimulate technological innovation, address
national needs, and strengthen small businesses. The Department's SBIR program provides $7.5 million
a year to develop and evaluate commercially viable education technology products to improve student
learning and teacher instruction. Examples of companies funded by SBIR include Filament Games,
Sokikom, Teachley, Triad Interactive Media, Fluidity Software, and Zaption, to name a few. See this
Education Week article and the ED SBIR website for a deeper look. You can also explore some of the
many games SBIR has funded in this playlist.
Challenge.gov is a government portal that shows opportunities from across government agencies where
new solutions for education are needed. Challenge.gov links innovators with funding opportunities to
promote innovation as well as increased capital formation in the field.
The U.S. Department of Educations Investing in Innovation (i3) program has funded 92 projects
seeking to provide innovative solutions to common education challenges. Funding for innovative uses
of technology can also come from the federal Race to the Top District Competitions.
The U.S. Department of Educations Institute of Education Sciences research grants provide awards
for $1.5 million or more for technology development, and up to $3 million in efficacy evaluations
of education technology across many content areas. Awardees are typically academic researchers,
but startup developers are eligible to apply and have won awards in recent years. You may consider
partnering with an academic researcher to strengthen your application.
The Foundation Centers Foundation Directory can be a source for connecting your product and team
to organizations with a similar interest in solving the education problems youre solving.
Local foundations may invest in underserved schools in their area with ed tech solutions that target
critical needs that align with the foundations mission. This can provide more mature products with
important exposure in schools.
Angel investors are good to connect with when you want to raise private capital to build your startup (angel
investors can include friends and family). AngelList offers the most comprehensive platform for researching
and connecting with angel investors. There are also angel networks that focus on social impact investing, such
as Investors Circle. In general, early angels will come from your personal network.

37

Venture capitalists and institutional investors have been eager to join the ed tech trend in the past few years.
NewSchools Venture Fund compiled information on Who's Funding K-12 EdTech? and posted the article A
Closer Look at K12 Ed Tech Venture Funding in 2013 detailing recent ed tech funding. In addition, EdSurge
maintains a list of investors interested in ed tech.
While you should raise as much money as your company needs to achieve major proof-points/milestones,
overfunding a company too soon can also have its own risks. More investment money leads to more investment
terms and complexities for founders, issues in receiving future funding, and a risk of misappropriating funding
early on. The rules around a venture captial (VC) investment are usually a little more complex, and large
portions of equity and control can be taken by the firm. Consider lower risk sources of funding such as angel
investments, crowdfunding, and the lowest possible, private and public sector seed grants.
Moving a product to scale once it has shown traction in the marketplace requires significant capital to keep the
business growing, to strengthen marketing and outreach plans, and to further strengthen the technology so that it
is sufficiently robust to be used by the masses. During this phase, many developers seek venture capital or angel

Words of Advice
Matt Greenfield is a managing partner at Rethink Education, which seeks to invest in progressive growthstage companies that are at the forefront of the education technology industry and have the ability to
make positive impacts in communities.

"Your goal should not be to start a company: Your goal should be to solve a problem.
Find a problem about which you are passionate. Ask yourself: Does the world need your company? Does the

world need your software? Do I really believe deeply in meeting this need? What feels urgent? Who am I really
selling this to?

Do your research: Is someone else already in that space? What do I really understand about educationhow
do teachers work, how do schools spend money, and what is really effective? Can I imagineclearly seea
transformation or a fundamental shift in this space?

Question your assumptions. Do you need to start a company, or should you work for one thats already out there?
Or maybe join, or start, a nonprofit.

If you choose the startup route, be prepared for the long haul and possible disappointment. Be a zealot on a
crusade. That is the only way to survive the journey."

investments in exchange for a portion of the rights to their technology to cover the costs associated with further
developing it to fit the needs of individual schools and to handle larger volumes of users and data.
While there are many resources for learning how to move your idea from inception to distribution, two places
to start are the set of insider tips on the edtechhandbook.com website by experienced entrepreneurs Michael
Staton and Mick Hewitt and this EdSurge article from the founders of Wikispaces giving their perspective on
the fundamental principles that are needed to succeed in educational technology.
38

Inside a Typical School District

School districts (also known as local education agencies, or LEAs, which oversee schools within a defined region),
state departments of education (state education agencies, SEAs), and the U.S. Department of Education also
have distinct roles and responsibilities in K12 education. This section lays out a few basics on their respective
roles, school funding, staff, and infrastructure elements as they concern ed tech. For a more comprehensive
look at the public school ecosystem, see A Public Education Primer: Basic (and Sometimes Surprising) Facts
about the U.S. Education System by the Center for Education Policy.

Federal, State, and District Responsibilities

The federal government plays a role in K12 education through the enforcement of civil rights protections in the
Constitution and federal laws prohibiting discrimination against and ensuring equal educational opportunities
for all students regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, or disability. In terms of influence on a school,
outside of civil rights enforcement, the federal level has the most indirect role, primarily leveraging a series of
grant programs to encourage states and districts to raise academic standards and provide equitable opportunities
for all students. For example, states and districts that receive specific federal funding must provide additional
educational services to low-achieving children in low-income schools. States receiving federal funding must
ensure that teachers are highly qualified, set academic content and student achievement standards for what
students should know and be able to do at each grade, and must test nearly all students in grades 38 and once
in high school.
States and school districts determine how to implement federal requirements through decisions at state
departments of education or school districts. Generally, states set requirements for compulsory schooling,
attendance, and graduation policies, and these vary by state. Whether decisions are made at the state or district
level also varies by state. So-called local control statesdefined by EdGlossary.orgdelegate most decision
making to LEAs. The states set standards for what students must know and be able to do; some states also
create a curriculum corresponding to the standards, whereas others leave that task to districts. Some states
approve textbooks; in others, districts make their own textbook decisions. States have the authority to hold
schools and districts accountable for students academic progress. Generally, states have the responsibility to
set teacher preparation and certification requirements, and districts handle staff hiring and compensation.

District Funding Sources and Budgets

District funding also varies by state. To understand how a school could purchase an app or toolfor example, as
part of a technology upgrade or a program to serve a special student populationits important to understand
how districts operate and how they are funded.
39

K12 education funding, on average, comes from state funds (47%), local community funds (43%), federal funds
(9%), and private funds (less than 1%, competitive grants and donations). State and local funding for education
is usually raised through taxes and bonds. However, some districts have taxing authority, some have bonding
authority, and some have neither. LEAs administer these funds for local public schools within their boundaries.
School budgets are influenced by the source of funds (federal, state, or local), and the exact details of school
funding and budgets vary across the approximately 14,000 school districts in the United States (the most current
statistics on district numbers can be found on the National Center for Education Statistics website). Charter
schools, an alternative type of public school that is often subject to fewer state and local requirements, are often
funded via the same mechanisms as other public schools, receiving funding based on the number and/or type
of students they serve. Just the basics are sketched here; for more information on school budgets and funding,
see this 2012 PDF report, School Budgets 101, from the American Association of School Administrators as well
as Money Matters: A Primer on K12 School Funding from the Center for Public Education. For state-by-state
public school financing, youll have to search for information for each state. For example, in 2013 California
enacted sweeping changes to K12 funding called the Local Control Funding Formula, which necessitated
changes in the way schools think about budgets based on student needs. The website for the California-based
organization EdSource describes the changes in their article, A New K-12 Funding System Demands New
Thinking in Building Local Budgets,

Facts About School Budgets

Where does the money go? The Center for Public Education (in Money Matters: A Primer on

K12 School Funding) states that, in general, money goes to instruction (66%), operations (17.8%),

administration (11%), and student support services (5.2%). Most of instruction funding goes to staffing,
leaving 9% for supplies and services.

How are long-term purchases handled? Public school districts face pressure to use all their funding in a

given fiscal year and generally cannot save funds over time as a way to afford larger one-time expenses.
Funds left over can make a schools budget seem excessive when each years budget is supposed to pay
expenses for only one year.

What is the budget timeline? Many LEAs operate on a budget period of July 1June 30, so a typical

budget process would begin in the fall to evaluate existing programs and set program priorities for the

next year. By midwinter, LEAs would integrate the estimated costs of new initiatives, anticipated savings,
and any cost adjustments into a preliminary budget. Meanwhile, the state budget is submitted, and

districts can make their projections. In the spring, district budgets are adopted only after final review

and public hearings, while concurrently the state budget is signed into law and funds become available
to districts for the upcoming school year. District budget decisions are typically proposed by district

administrators and approved by the school boards. Many larger districts must first present to a school
board committee before presenting to the full board. Some district decisions must be approved by an
additional level of government, such as city councils, which can extend timelines.

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Federal Funding - Elementary and

Secondary Education Act
The primary source of federal K12 support began
in 1965 with the enactment of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA). (In 2002, ESEA
was reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act,
NCLB). ESEA provides funding, primarily to state and
local educational agencies, through a wide variety
of programs to support services for disadvantaged
students, e.g., low- income students, English
learners, or migrant students, with the general goal
of improving academic achievement for all students.
Although federal funding is a small overall percentage,
it represents important monies for LEAs, and federal
fundingfor special purposes and populations
cannot be repurposed to cover other expenses.

Tip
For detailed information on No Child Left Behind
and title grants, download the 2009 PDF report

NCLB: Targeting and Uses of Federal Education

Funds from the U.S. Department of Education

on guidance for state and local implementation

of NCLB. For clarification on how federal funds

can be used to support technology, such as

professional development for teachers, collecting

and analyzing educational data, and using

technology to communicate with parents, see the

2013 Use of Federal Funds Dear Colleague Letter
(PDF) from the U.S. Department of Educations
Office of Educational Technology. This letter

clarifies acceptable uses for federal education

funds in transitioning to digital learning.

Competitive Funding: Innovation Funds

Multiple initiatives at the federal, state, and private foundation levels seek to support innovative education
reform. These programs typically award short-term funding (1260 months) to organizations that qualify for it.
EXAMPLES OF FEDERAL INNOVATION FUNDS
Race to the Top is a U.S. Department of Education competitive grant program designed to encourage
and reward states and districts creating the conditions for education innovation and reform.
The Investing in Innovation (i3) Program at the U.S. Department of Education has funded 92 projects
seeking to provide innovative solutions to common education challenges.
EXAMPLES OF STATE INNOVATION FUNDS
The New York School Innovation Fund awards grants to partnerships committed to the rigorous work
required to redesign and turn schools around into high-performing, high-quality organizations.
Wyoming Trust Fund For Innovative Education Grants supports innovative educational ideas leading
to the improvement of public education.
The Rhode Island Model School Grant (supported by Race to the Top, 2012) was a competitive grant
process that awarded $470,000 to an elementary school in Rhode Island with a powerful blended
learning vision and strong implementation partnerships.
The Maryland Digital Learning Innovation Fund is designed to help local school systems maximize

new and emerging technologies to improve the teaching and learning, as well as to better prepare all
students for the careers of the future. These grants have awarded a total of $3 to $5 million each year.

41

Key People
Schools are complex organizations with longstanding practices. Understanding how people are
organized will help you make sure you are engaging
the right decision makers. Generally, districts (and
larger schools) will have several departments
focused on special areas, such as curriculum and
instruction, English learners, special education, and
IT/technology. The director of curriculum, working
under the direction of and in collaboration with the
superintendent and the school board, determines the
academic strategy and implements the goals for the
district, including digital learning approaches. Each
department can have a say in how technology is used
to meet its goals and can influence how funding is
allocated to apps and tools. If the school receives
federal Title I funding for disadvantaged students,
it may have a Title I director who oversees the
turnaround approach for the school, and most schools also
the federal funds for students with disabilities.

Teachers as
Purchasers
Grassroots efforts are under way to empower
teachers as fiscal decision makers. This

movement is in its infancy, but as innovative and

relatively inexpensive apps and tools become
available, many educators hope the tension

between bureaucratic procurement policies and

teacher demands will be addressed. Some notable

teacher purchasing projects are the experimental
Teacher Wallets project and a platform called
Donors Choose on which teachers can post
technology and other requests for funding
through crowdsourced donations.

have a director of special education who manages

Schools rarely make funding decisions; districts allocate resources across schools to ensure uniformity of
curriculum and instruction. Other times, schools are granted greater fiscal autonomy as they meet various
performance thresholds. However, movements are under way to give principals greater authority to spend
resources to meet specific needs, particularly for schools identified as persistently low performing.
Because of smaller size, greater flexibility, and site-based management, charter schools represent a more
local staff-based approach to fiscal decision making than district schools. Generally, charter teachers have
more input in allocating instructional resources. In some cases, individual teachers also have small budgets to
purchase materials to meet the needs of specific students.
Regardless of whether a school is a traditional public or a charter school, the general theme for all schoolbased educatorsfrom principal to kindergarten teacheris busy! Educators have many demands placed on
them and limited time to juggle a host of responsibilities. Most likely, the teacher youre talking to or the
principal youre calling is forgoing lunch or a trip to the bathroom to have a conversation with you. Keep your
interactions short and focused, and recognize how valuable their time is.
School leaders. Traditionally, the term school leaders refers to the principal and assistant principals. The
principal has the primary responsibility for shaping a vision for academic success and managing the school.
(For research on the role of principals, see the Wallace Foundation report: The School Principal as Leader.)
Assistant principals may have a variety of roles from handling discipline to managing relationships with
parents, to overseeing teacher performance. However, there are many school leaders in addition to principals
and their assistants. College and career counselors, reading specialists, lead teachers, instructional coaches,
etc., are also school leaders. In addition, many times technology coaches and teachers most comfortable using
technology are involved in making decisions about what tools and apps will be used in a school. When working
42

with schools, it is helpful to identify which school leader is responsible for the problem your app or tool is
intended to solve.
School leaders often spend much of their day in classrooms observing teachers and providing instructional
coaching. If your app or tool is intended for use by school leaders, remember that their jobs are becoming
increasingly mobile and require access to data and information in any location in the building.
Teachers and instructional specialists. Educators who work directly with students have advanced degrees
or certifications in their specialty area and teach multiple subjects for elementary and possibly fewer subjects
in middle and high school. In elementary school, teachers often collaborate at a grade level, whereas in
later grades, the collaboration may be more department based. Increasingly, school librarians and media
specialists are serving as points of contact for technology acquisition, evaluation, and implementation. Even
in schools where this is not their formal role, new technologies can eventually fall under their purview. When
approaching schools and districts, make sure your messaging speaks to and acknowledges all parties. For more
information about the daily lives of teachers, check out these websites from the Carnegie Foundation, Inside
Teaching and the Gallery of Teaching and Learning.)
Not all teachers are early adopters of new technology, but those who are can be helpful to someone developing
a new app or tool for classroom use. Sometimes early adopters can be found on teaching- or technologyoriented committees, and they are also often the experts other teachers go to for technology-related questions.
If you can get an early adopter excited about your app or tool, that educator has the potential to get other
teachers in his or her larger network as well as the
school administration excited about it as well.
Home and family. Although some apps may be
intended for use only in a formal school environment,
many are targeted to parents for their children to
use outside school. Traditional uses like test prep,
tutoring, and homework help remain attractive to
families, and more families are also using apps for
mobile devices like math apps, e-books, and learning
games, especially those apps that are engaging
and demonstrate that they can help children learn.
Many companies that provide schools with learning
technologies also include capabilities for use at
home or Internet-enabled locations such as libraries
(keeping in mind that not all families have access to
high-speed Internet at home). There are also good
side-by-side apps designed for family members to
use with their children. Even if your app is designed
for use at school, it is important to consider ways
to share student progress with adults in the home.
For an example, see the case study School Districts
Use Mobile Apps to Engage Parents that describes
how a district built a mobile app to push student
information to families phones.

Maker Movement
Some parents are eager to involve their children
in hands-on media or maker projects. Making
has become the umbrella term for the events,

local community spaces, and online communities

dedicated to the design and manufacturing of

objects and installations using such tools as 3-D

printing and metal- and woodworking. Parents

may have been to a regional MakerFaire where

makers gather to showcase their creations. An

example of an organization leading this charge is

the Maker Education Initiative.

The maker movement is supported by technology

in many ways including engineering, robotics,
and fab labs. Sites like DIY.org and Makezine.

com are promoting coding, making, design, and

media creation. Simple kits and applications are

becoming more accessible for students of all ages,

and developers should be aware that a growing

number of parents are excited about doing these

activities at home and supporting them in school.

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Students. While students are in a group of their own

and may not typically purchase ed tech apps and tools
with their own money, their influence on the ed tech
market should not be discounted as they are the users
most developers have in mind. Many students take
personal devices to and from school (for example,
THE Journal reports high use of smartphone use in
Advanced Placement and writing courses), and some
districts are adopting BYOD (bring your own device)
policies, as reported in this 2013 Wired article, The
Future of Education: BYOD in the Classroom. Some
students, particularly guided by a family member
and/or teacher, are also looking for mobile apps to
learn with on their personal devices or websites to
help with formal coursework or informal learning.
Remember that, while a teacher or family member
may judge an app solely on its academic credibility,
students must have a seamless, effective, and
engaging experience if they are actually going to use
the app to its full potential.

Technology
Infrastructure

Digital Citizenship
Our lives have transitioned into an immensely

digital world of learning where one-to-one (1:1)

initiatives and bring your own device (BYOD)

policies are growing rapidly. Consequently, there is

an increasing need to spread the conversation about

the responsibility that students, teachers, parents

and technology leaders have in the digital space. So

what exactly is digital citizenship? Digital citizenship

establishes a set of norms and practices regarding

appropriate and responsible technology use. Digital

citizenship requires a whole-community approach to

thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating

responsibly online. Bringing national attention to this

topic, organizations such as Common Sense Media,

a media and technology awareness organization, in

conjunction with Connected Educators hosts "Digital

Citizenship Week" to empower students, engage

families, and connect teachers. Leading the charge

in the classroom, Common Sense Media is quickly
spreading its K-12 Digital Literacy & Citizenship

Curriculum, which addresses digital literacy and

citizenship topics in an age-appropriate way.

Common Sense Media simplifies the user experience

Many schools are now gaining access to and building

by allowing students, teachers, and parents to
good technology infrastructures and the technical
browse by grade band or click a specific category to
support to keep them running smoothly. Still, you
highlight the lessons that address a specific topic.
may encounter schools that have a patchwork
solution run by part-time personnel who wear
multiple hats. It is a challenging environment for introducing new ideas and approaches; developers who are
used to targeting the latest smartphones and who assume continuous, ubiquitous connectivity sometimes are
surprised to see some schools technology limitations. Conducting research up front can help you design a
solution that is robust enough to work in multiple environments and save effort you might put into a solution
that requires infrastructure that not all schools have. Build toward access by users with all sorts of capabilities
and away from the assumption that they will have fast connectivity and devices.
Schools use a variety of devices (such as tablets and laptops) to connect to the Internet, and some also have
a BYOD policy. This means that apps and tools must run on many platforms, including older operating
system versions. When introducing your product to potential users, include documentation of all the possible
interoperability (sending and receiving data) you bring to the table, system requirements, external sites and
platforms schools will need to whitelist, and your ability to personalize a product to meet specific needs.
President Obama set the goal for 99% of students to have access to broadband Internet and devices by 2018
through the ConnectED Initiative. This presents a great opportunity for ed tech developers to help schools gain
44

access to the same kinds of web-based apps and tools that businesses and consumers have come to expect. Still,
at present a schools Internet access may not be the same as your offices, so its important to make apps and tools
that are robust despite less than ideal bandwidth or slowdowns at peak times throughout the day when usage
overloads capacity. The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) recommends that schools
and districts meet minimum bandwidth goals (see below). Several public, private, and nonprofit organizations
are working to help schools reach and exceed these goals. The Federal Communications Commission is in
the process of modernizing its long-standing E-rate program as part of this effort, providing billions more
dollars to schools and libraries throughout the country to support their implementation of broadband and
wireless technology. While only an estimated 2030% of U.S. schools now have reliable broadband service to
the classroom, these efforts should begin to have a noticeable impact in the near future. To learn more about
what schools and district leaders can do to meet ConnectED technology infrastructure goals, see Future Ready
Schools: Building Technology Infrastructure for Learning.

Recommended Bandwidth for U.S. Schools

Broadband Access for Teaching,
Learning, and School Operations

201415 School Year Target

201718 School Year Target

External Internet connection from district

to Internet service provider (ISP)

At least 100 Mbps/1,000

students and staff

At least 1 Gbps/1,000 students and

staff

Internal wide-area network (WAN) from

district to each school within the district

At least 1 Gbps/1,000
students and staff

At least 10 Gbps/1,000 students

and staff

Source: SETDA, The Broadband Imperative, 2012

Testing Your Product in Schools

Developers aim to build apps that work for the greatest number of users, and schools are especially diverse
in their infrastructure, organization, staffing, and purchasing. For example, some schools run throughout the
summer and others take a break. Some school districts classify sixth grade as an elementary grade and some
roll it into middle school. Some school filters block video streaming and social media sites and others dont.
The list goes on. This variability is a major challenge, and you may need to limit your initial implementation
to specific schools so you can concentrate your resources on core features before adapting to the variations you
are sure to encounter. Once you prove that your solution works in one context, however, you wont be able to
scale effectively without addressing additional settings and constraints.
Testing an educational app or tool in a school requires coordination with the school administrator and teachers,
and it can take some convincing to let teachers take valuable class time for a new app. It can be easier to ask
teachers or administrators to test an app that is intended for their own use because then they dont feel they are
spending precious student learning time on something unproven. Working with an early adopter educator or codesigning with teachers from the school where you want to test the app or tool can help.

45

Some organizations are devoted to making product testing in schools easier. Jennie Doughertys Beta Classroom
was an early nonprofit organization with an organized and systematic approach to teacher beta testing. EdSurge
recently started to bring more educator voices to the table through its EdSurge Tech for Schools Summits, but
note that these events involve bringing teachers to a centralized location to share apps and tools rather than
putting products in the classroom. In Rhode Island, the Highlander Institute has made inroads with public,
private, and charter districts, and it leverages these connections to get ed tech products into more schools
and classrooms. Chicagos LEAP Innovations program is similarly working on connecting schools and ed tech
companies through its LEAP Pilot Network, as is the Learning Innovation Hub (iHub) in Silicon Valley. EdTech
Maryland is laying the groundwork for short-cycle efficacy trials as well.
When working in schools or building apps to use on school networks, developers should understand the
implications of acceptable use policies (AUPs) that districts are developing to address concerns about accessing
inappropriate materials. These could affect your app or tool because districts may be relaxing policies on
filtering or blocking of websites at the school or district level. AUPs are important for protecting school systems
from liability as students and teachers consume and create digital media. CoSN (the Consortium for School
Networking) created a short guide, Rethinking Acceptable Use Policies to Enable Digital Learning, to help
schools develop these guidelines, which can involve parents acknowledging that their child agrees to basic care
and responsibility guidelines and student assent that they agree to follow the rules governing their use of the
Internet and online conduct. As school device infrastructure has evolved over time, AUPs have also to address
one or more of typical usage models: (1) shared digital devices that stay in school (for example, laptops on
carts shared by classrooms), (2) student-owned devices under BYOD programs, and (3) one-to-one devices that
belong to the school but that students are allowed to take home.

Teacher Support and Training

Teachers find apps and tools valuable
only when they know how to leverage
them effectively. Therefore, your app or
tool should be designed and user tested
thoroughly so that teachers can be up and
running shortly after downloading it. If data
imports are needed (e.g., to set student levels
in adaptive software based on benchmark
tests), dont assume that a teacher will wait
for the IT department to do itmake the
instructions clear and simple to follow.
Not every teacher will be an early adopter,
and not every teacher will pick up your
product with a curious willingness to play
District leaders learn from each other at the Future Ready Summit in
Raleigh, NC
and see what it can do. No matter what you
build, plan an accompanying professional
learning component that outlines the basic
structures, functions, and abilities of your tool. An online training module, space for a community of users
to collaborate, or co-created collection of suggestions will help more reticent users start to feel at home with
46

whatever is new about it. As with all things, remember time for training is time educators arent using to do
something else, so make sure to apply user testing of your training elements as well to make sure they actually
answer real questions rather than the ones you think teachers will have. As you design training, consider how it
will be deliveredon site, remotely, blended on site and online, synchronously, asynchronously? Decide who
will develop the materials and who will conduct the training. Will the trainers be employees, paid consultants,
or early adopter volunteers? Also, how will you make sure that teachers not only understand your app or tools
features, but also understand and respect the privacy requirement that might be associated with the data your
product uses and/or generates?
Ideally, your tool will eventually need minimal training on how to get started because the tools design will be
largely self-explanatory.
Beyond training, how will you communicate with teachers and districts and parents who use your app or tool?
For instance, will a support team be available to answer emails and phone calls? Your ability to communicate
and work with early adopters may improve the chance for broader adoption from teachers and school districts.

47

Getting Apps and Tools to Users

So you have a great app, but how do you get it in the hands of those who can benefit from it? This section
provides insight into selection and procurement process.

District/School Procurement
School district procurement practices tend to be lengthy, which can be challenging for new app developers.
The Smart Series Guide to EdTech Procurement from Digital Learning Now! elaborates on the 12 Rules
of Smart Ed Tech Procurement. Aimed at state and district leaders, it offers many key questions for them
to consider before authorizing a purchase, along with advice on ways to simplify the purchasing process,
and gives developers insight into what districts care about. Improving Ed Tech Purchasing Guide from
Digital Promise, illuminates the thought process of potential users and highlights the challenges in the often
complicated process.

Purchasing Examples
Procurement practices vary by district and state, and they can be cumbersome, especially for larger districts
(some procurement documents are more than 200 pages). The objectives are to provide fair opportunity
for companies to compete for public funds, prevent unapproved purchases, and save costs. The following
hypothetical examples (based on actual districts) are representative of the practices that may be in place in
districts across the country. When working with a particular district or state, you will need to become familiar
with its procurement policies and procedures, including requirements that apply to Federal grants.
Large District (> 40,000 students, > 40 schools). Requests to purchase an app are made to the district to the
purchasing department, which issues purchase orders for approved requests. To ensure fair and competitive
bidding, district requirements are generally as follows:
Purchases under $500 require a written quote confirming the price.
Purchases between $500 and $2,000 require three written quotes from different vendors.
Purchases between $2,000 and $15,000 require specifications to be sent to the purchasing
department, which then obtains written quotes. Purchasing departments may not be familiar with
technology purchases, which can introduce delays. Purchase is submitted to the superintendent for
approval.
Purchases over $20,000 go through a formal bid handled by the purchasing department based on
48

specifications created by the district. Public notice is given (which may not be in the channels where
an ed tech company would notice), and comprehensive files are created for each bid received. The
purchasing department coordinates the announcement, review, and award of all bids. The board of
education approves the final purchase.
From start to finish, a $10,000 request might take 7 to 12 weeks to process, and a $30,000 request might take
four to seven months. Some significnat purchases can take over a year.
Small District (~5,000 students, ~10 schools). A smaller district may have somewhat less formality, but it
still must comply with federal procurement policies to ensure fair and competitive bidding. Smaller districts
may also be more risk averse and have stricter requirements for smaller dollar amounts. Requirements are
generally as follows.
Purchases under $500 require a verbal quote confirming the price.
Purchases under $2,500 require three verbal quotes confirming the price.
Purchases in excess of $2,500 require the superintendents approval of written quotes.
Purchases over $2,500 but under $8,000 require three written quotes and must be submitted on a
formal purchase requisition.
Purchases over $8,000 require a formal bidding process that entails a legal notice, sending bid
invitations to interested bidders, and formally opening bids at a designated time and place.
From start to finish, a $2,400 request might take between two and four weeks to process, and a $10,000
request might take between eight and 12 weeks.
Charter School (<500 students, one school). According to this 2014 Forbes article, Illuminating The Edtech
Market For Small- To Medium-Sized School Systems, many charter management organizations are developing
in-house solutions for administration and academic software. For external procurements, the school board must
approve any construction-related project expense over $10,000 and any general expense over $5,000, although
this policy can be waived under certain circumstances. The head of school has latitude to seek quotes or bids as
deemed reasonable. Federal procurement policies apply to all federal funding streams at the school. From start to
finish, both a $10,000 and a $30,000 request might take between one and four weeks to process.

Implications and Alternatives in the Procurement Process

Traditional procurement processes have drawbacks for schools and for ed tech innovators alike. If a district
determines at the end of a lengthy procurement process that it selected the wrong vendor or approach,
it most likely requires starting over and losing precious time, possibly postponing implementation to the
following school year. Difficulty changing contracts once they are approved can also stall innovation. Forced
to define work six or more months before it starts, districts often cannot nimbly adjust initiatives based on new
technology or innovative services.
At the same time, the procurement process can be a time when districts have an opportunity to think through
their priorities and requirements (for example, the need for the product to interoperate with a single signon solution and to provide data sharing and interoperability). If a district or school is unsure of product
capabilities, it can issue an RFI (request for information) to help it assess what products can do. Furthermore,

49

proposals that come in during the bidding process can provide valuable information, such as price comparison,
licensing options, and results from other districts.
On top of developing new products, small ed tech startups often lack the capacity to build large sales and marketing
teams. To more efficiently distribute their apps to schools, many developers pursue licensing agreements with larger
partners that already have relationships with schools. For example, SBIR awardee Childrens Progress developed
a math and reading assessment that was distributed by many leading textbook publishers, and Fluidity Softwares
mathematics software program is distributed by original equipment manufacturers.

Ways to Improve Decision Making

There are things that app developers can do to support schools in making decisions about which digital tools
and apps to consider. Here are some possible strategies.
Find an internal champion. If internal champions believe in the importance of the app or tool, they can help
make it a priority to get the purchase approved. To do this, introduce the app or tool to district leadership sooner
rather than later and leverage teachers enthusiasm to arrange meetings with key decision makers. Provide these
champions with easily sharable information (one-page flyer, short video, etc.) to help them advocate for your
tool.
Gain union support. For apps that address a specific teacher need or help make better use of teacher time,
teachers unions may have influence on procurement. Make sure the union (through the representing teachers)
supports the purchase. Consider meeting with union leaders early in the process.
Secure a place in the budget. Districts often have categorical and general funds that must be spent before
the end of the fiscal year. If the purchase of your app or tool is not budgeted in the current fiscal year (often
set by March of the prior year), consider providing professional development services, creating a pilot project,
or otherwise engaging in groundwork with any available funds to improve your chances of being included in
the next years budget.
Ensure you and your team have met requirements to be on site. District requirements for employment
and/or volunteering will most likely apply if you or someone from your team needs to be inside a school for
implementation support. Check district requirements early to have time to make sure, for example, that
each individual who will be on site has undergone a background check (including fingerprinting). Check for
insurance provisions and requirements to comply with labor laws, such as prevailing wage.
Do as much contract prework as possible. Contract terms and approvals can cause delays, so be prepared
to negotiate early and be ready once a contract is negotiated. Learn the districts procurement policy and
recognize the steps and timelines involved. Prequalify as a vendor for the district. Review standard contract
terms and negotiate modifications early. Understand the nuances in both professional service agreements and
software licensing agreements (per user, per device, site license, per teacher per classroom, per student, group
license, and volume purchase). If a contract must be approved by the board of education, determine when the
board meets and the lead time required for getting on the agenda.
Price your app or tool strategically. Different threshold amounts require purchases to be competitively bid
and approved by the board of education. Be aware of the cutoffs for competitive bids and approval and be
strategic about pricing and selling within district policy.
50

Distribution Through Third-Party

Storefront
Many educational tools and apps can be
distributed to schools directly through a digital
storefront (such the Apple iTunes Store or
Google Play). This typically requires students
or teachers to have an account set up on each
device but can be streamlined through the use
of device management software. If multiple
students are using a single device, tracking
student progress or app access can be tricky.
Some software solutions (such as eSpark)
help manage multiple students using a single
device.

Consumer Education
Market
If you want the VC perspective on the potential of

the consumer business model applied to ed tech, Fred

Wilson of New York-based Union Square Ventures

shares his thoughts in this article, Fred Wilson on Ed

Tech: 4 Takeaways for Educators and Entrepreneurs.

Another perspective comes from Umang Gupta, a

Silicon Valley investor and CEO, in his article, Education

Technology: Could it Be Different This Time?

Stories From the Field:

Out-of-the-Box Approaches to Procurement
Steve Hodas is an education and online-communities entrepreneur with twenty years of
experience ranging from startups to NASA, IPOs to the NYCDOE.

At its root, procurement is a system for defining problems, identifying and acquiring potential solutions, and
putting them in place. There are many conceivable variations for each of these steps and for how they can be
coupled together, but most commonly they take the uninspired form of a conventional Request for Proposal

(RFP). The limitations of the RFP process are well known to anyone who has attempted to participate in one.
From the vendors perspective, RFPs can be opaque, tortuous, inauthentic exercises in compliance that seem

designed to ensure you do not deliver your most inspired work. From educators perspective, they often result
in products that are at best uninspiring and at worse useless.

But it doesnt have to be that way. Principles of user-centered design (UCD) and crowdsourcing are beginning to

make their way into the mainstream of how school districts (and other municipal agencies) solve their problems.

The NYC DOE's Office of Innovation has embraced these principles to help improve processes defined at all levels
of the system, from the classroom to the school to the central office. Over the past year, they have run several

iterations of UCD-based challenges and hackathons to create more authentic solutions to pressing problems. One
of the goals is to create exemplars that can be picked up and localized by districts elsewhere.

The GapApp Challenge focused on middle school math classrooms, a Spotify Hackathon on music education,

and the most recent School Choice Design Challenge on building apps to help families choose high schools. As

different as their end products were, each of these procurements was based on the belief that when it comes
to looking for answers to hard questions, bottom-up beats top-down and all of us are smarter than any of us.

51

Sustaining and Growing an App or Tool

It takes effort for schools and teachers to adopt new apps and tools into their technology infrastructure or their
classroom practices, so its important for startups to think about sustainability from the beginning. A panel of
seasoned entrepreneurs discussed lessons learned with various sustainability models at an ed tech meetup in
2013, and EdSurge reported the results in the article EdTech Business Models that Work:
Of the companies represented [Pathbrite, Big Universe, Edmodo, and Global English], only Edmodo is
following the Facebook-LinkedIn model of building a huge audience with support from hefty venture capital.
Even so, Andreas Quandt, head of product and analytics at Edmodo (and formerly with Facebook), noted that
entrepreneurs should realize that ed tech isn't like the consumer web: You should not go into this space for
financial reasons," he cautioned. "You need to have the vision and conviction that you can build the right product
and do everything right. And you will need a lot of patience and perseverance and grit.
With that caution in mind, the following are some common approaches to building sustainability for your tools
and apps in the education space.
Freemium for teachers, students, or
parents. Offer a basic version of your app
for free and encourage teachers or parents
While many of the approaches presented here will be familiar
to purchase the premium version with
to app developers who have worked in other spaces, there is
added features. The advantage is you can
an important difference. Producers of consumer-focused apps
build a large customer base through the
often fund the development of their app through advertising
free version, with the downside being the
in the app. In education, this may not be appropriate because
need to convert enough users to purchasing
it can be distracting to learning and can repel parents and
the premium version to make ongoing
teachers. District policies may even prohibit the practice.
development sustainable. Also, if teachers
or parents are downloading an app or tool
to try it out, the freemium version should
give them enough information about how it works to be able to make a confident purchasing decision.

Watch out for Advertising!

Freemium for schools. Offer your app or tool for free to teachers or students and then charge schools/
districts for the premium version, which could come with additional reporting or integration to enterprise
data systems that could be useful at the school or district level.
Direct to parents. With the proliferation of mobile devices and the ease and familiarity of purchasing
and downloading apps from education app storefronts, making your business sustainable through parent
purchasing is a possibility.
License to other companies. Consider making an arrangement with a platform provider or content aggregator
to offer your app to students, teachers, and/or schools through an existing distribution channel.
Enterprise or institution. Enterprise sales are familiar in the education marketplace but can be difficult for
startups with a small sales force and can take a long time. Focusing on the region in which you are based and
generating referrals from early implementations can help you connect with decision makers in other regions.
Value-added services. Offering your tool or app for free and offering services such as technical support,
professional development, or analytics in connection with your app or tool can make it more appealing to
the education sector. This can be a way to provide sustainability for the development of your tool without
charging for the app itself.
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Software Interoperability
and Open Data
Schools have a lot of dataeverything from student grades to library management to bus schedules or transcript
generators. Often these data are stored in a variety of stand-alone systems that dont share their data in a
standardized way. This means that the same data, such as teacher names or student schedules, must be entered
manually into each system that needs the data to function properly. New tools and apps may find it challenging
to exchange data with existing school data systems. The situation worsens with the increased use of online
learning systems that depend on student data to personalize instruction and provide reporting to teachers. As
teachers and students go online for more of their teaching and learning needs, the number of systems they
rely on increases. This makes it very difficult for teachers and students to see a comprehensive picture of their
learning progress or know where students are struggling and for teachers to give them effective support.
There are some approaches in place to address these challenges. For example, the Guide to EdTech
Procurement from Digital Learning Now! recommends leveraging industry standards for single sign-on and
data interoperability.
Single sign-on. Apps and tools can be built to enable single sign-onallowing teachers and students to log
in to all their applications with a single password. This is similar to how general Internet users may log in to
a variety of sites using their Facebook or Google account, only in the case of students the accounts would be
provided by the school.
A teacher teaching six classes of students a day with multiple apps and tools needs a way to manage learning
content, attendance, student progress, and grades. Students and teachers having to keep track of a different
user name and password to log in to each system wastes time and creates frustration. In addition, if all the
different learning systems dont know who a student is, they cant help schools create a complete picture of
that students learning. For all these reasons, solutions involving single sign-on are needed for teachers and
students to access all their technology solutions though a single log-in credential. Many districts are even
moving from preferring single sign-on to requiring it.
Interoperable systems. No one app or tool can provide all the functionality that every teacher, student, or
parent may need. Enabling teachers and students to seamlessly use more than one app goes beyond just having
a common log-in. Basic information, like student schedules or courses completed, may need to be shared from
one system to another to provide the best learning experience. For example, if a student demonstrates the
mastery of a new concept in Khan Academy, that might be reflected in an app that the teacher or parents use
to track student progress.

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One common format for web services in education is the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard. The
IMS Global Learning Consortium develops the LTI standard, and information about the specification can
be found on its website. This standard allows learning management systems to exchange data with other
learning tools and applications approved for use by the school, so students can have a seamless learning
experience even if they are using apps created by different developers.
App developers should also consider offering users the ability to export information in case they need to use it
in another tool or app. Google Takeout is an example of this, allowing users to export any of their data from
a Google tool for use on other tools if they choose.
If app and tool developers can come together to create and use open standards so that teachers can use any
platform in tandem with any additional applications that they find useful, this would greatly reduce barriers
to empowering teachers to select the best tools for their needs.
Data interoperability and standards. Regardless of whether you enable data sharing through an existing or
custom API (application program interface) or through a data export option, in order to be useful the data need
to be in a common format. For example, when transferring student data between systems, should a system
indicate gender as M and F or male and female? Should the name of the field be student_name
or first_name? These are essential items to define if we are going to allow students to seamlessly move
between learning apps. Fortunately, data interoperability frameworks have been established to ensure data
are presented in usable formats. The following are examples of some existing standards and frameworks that
address the issue of data interoperability:
The Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) are a good anchor to help center the debate, but they
do not specify how the data are actually transferred.
The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) is an open data sharing specification that does this.
SIF has an XML specification for modeling educational data and service-oriented architecture (SOA)
specifications for sharing the data between institutions.
Organizations such as the nonprofit umbrella organization PESC are busy working with many kinds of
organizations to unify educational data.
Ed-Fi Alliance is working to create common data standards for communication between educational
tools. Ed-Fi is different from SIF because it is focused on providing educators with dashboard starter
kits showing real-time data displays.
Ed-Fi and SIF both align with existing local systems as well as federal standards such as CEDS, and they can both
help lower the time and money spent on state- and federal-level reporting, if implemented effectively. There are also
some new alternative approaches to sharing data, discussed below, such as Experience API (xAPI).

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Early-Stage Interoperability Initiatives

The Experience API (xAPI)
When students are learning across multiple technology applications, that information is scattered among many
different systems. xAPI is an approach to describe learning data between systems in a uniform way.

Source: Overview of xAPI by Liz Burow

xAPI helps collect experiences from online learning activities (such as watching a video or completing a quiz).
These data can then be used to help other learning systems give students a more personalized experience, as
well as help a teacher understand a students unique needs based on his or her activity across multiple learning
tools. Because xAPI is simply a protocol to describe learning actions (John watched a video, Kelly completed
a quiz, etc.), any type of learning experience can be placed into this format. This means that it could be used
to account for more social and emotional skill sets (resilience, perseverance, etc.), which is a potentially big
improvement over a reliance on hard outcome data in most digital systems. xAPI is available under an open
license from the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative.

Learning Resource Metadata Initiative

Searching for digital content is much easier when resources are tagged: Recipes, travel directions, and airplane
ticket information all have common fields (e.g., who, date, location, subject, publisher) that can improve
search results for users. The Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) is designed to make it easier to
publish and discover digital learning resources through the use of common tags. Because learning resources
have fields (such as curricular standards alignment) that are not found in other web searches, LRMI was
created to describe those unique educational elements.
LRMI was built as an extension to Schema.org, a metadata vocabulary developed as a collaboration among Bing,
Google, Yahoo!, and other organizations to encourage the use of metadata to make it easier to find web resources. The
LRMI metadata vocabulary is based on contributions from experts and organizations that have worked with metadata
and metatagging since the early 1990s and thus comprises the best of existing systems rather than a reinvention. This
metadata framework enables creators of learning resources to tag them consistently and effectively.
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The Learning Registry

The Learning Registry is a tool for collecting and sharing information about digital learning resources. Its
goal is to help educators and students access the right learning content for their specific needs. It does this by
providing a common location to post information about which learning resources are relevant to which users.
Similar to how a library card catalog provides information about all of the books in the library in one place,
the Learning Registry provides information about digital learning resources across the internet in one place.
Posts to the Registry may include the author and date created, as well as the curricular standards to which the
content is aligned. The Learning Registry also records usage data for each object (e.g. 543 eighth-grade science
teachers used the attached video last month). Like the card catalog, the Learning Registry does not store the
actual learning resources, just information about them with links to the location of the resource itself.
App developers can use the data from the Learning Registry to recommend digital learning materials to users
without having to collect all of the content themselves. Sites like My Digital Chalkboard and Illinois Shared
Learning Resources use data from the Learning Registry to helps users find relevant resources.

My Data Initiative
The MyData Initiative seeks for every student (or parents of a younger students, as appropriate) to have access
to his or her own academic data, wherever the data are stored, in both machine-readable and human-readable
format. As the MyData website explains,
This is possible through the participation of schools and software developers who enable students to
download their own data to create a personal learning profile that they can keep with them throughout
their learning career. In addition, developers are encouraged to create customized services and tools
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for students based on the information available in their personal learning profile.
This data may range from classes taken to their federal financial aid (FAFSA) details. Students can
simply retain this information for their own records or benefit by sharing select pieces of it with the
ever-growing network of applications being built by the private sector to help students make better
choices about which classes to take, which colleges to attend, and how to pay for tuition.

Stories From the Field:

A Case Study from Data Jam/Datapalooza
Mike Hruska is the CEO of Problem Solutions, which specializes in software, mobile and

learning technologies for government, nonprofit and commercial partners. Hruskas firm
has worked on mobile strategy for the U.S. Army and developed mobile technology to
distribute movies for Paramount and Disney.

"The U.S. Department of Education hosted a Datapalooza in January 2014 to bring together private sector

technology innovators and educators to build tools to support learning. One of the projects was edX Connector,
built jointly by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, Aptima, Carney Labs, edX, Parchment,

Problem Solutions, Syracuse University, and the World Bank. The group realized that as more platforms for
learning emerge, learners will have more places to access personalized learning experiences. Its goal was

to enable platforms like edX to share availability of courses through the Learning Registry, to collect user-

learning paths using the Experience API (xAPI), and to share learner profile data between learning platforms
using a profile API.

With only 30 days to build the demo, the group used existing technologies as much as possible.
Existing platforms and technologies: Learning Registry, edX
Specifications and standards: Common Core Standards, PESC Standards, xAPI
Collaborative and open-source tools for codevelopment (e.g., GitHub, Google Docs).
The group fleshed out three use cases and showcased the possibilities of its work at the January 2014 Datapalooza:
1. Publishing the existence of an edX MOOC (massive open online course) to the Learning Registry to
make others aware of it

2. Capturing and sharing granular learning path data within a MOOC (in the form of a student profile) to
share an experience with a learning resource

3. Sharing (exporting) a profile for a user.

By enabling universities to share course content and students the ability to transfer prior achievements, edX
Connect builds a stronger ecosystem to expand personalized learning offerings. Questions like the following
can be considered: What did you learn, how did you learn it, and what is your record of achievement? The
edX Connector offers a first step toward this functionality."

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As one example described in this article, Personalizing Analytics through the Education and Career Positioning
System, the MyData Button was used as part of an Iowa college and career guidance system that enables
individuals to design, simulate, and create their education-to-career choices and pathways and, when they
desire, to download all their personal data records.

Open Badges
The Open Badge Initiative is an example of an innovative infrastructure for colleges and industry organizations
to award microcredentials to students who demonstrate proficiency in specific competencies. A student may
earn a particular competency badge by demonstrating prior experience or by participating in courses or
informal learning experiences. When badges are delivered using the Open Badge specification, a learner can
collect badges from any number of different organizations and showcase them in one single place. Eventually,
employers may use Open Badges to search for new employees who have specific competencies, leveling the
playing field for job seekers while better matching skill sets with positions.

Sources of Education Data and Resources

The open education movement has made data about education and learning materials freely available to be
used to improve learning experiences for students everywhere.

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public
domain or have been released under a license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. Open
educational resources include full courses and textbooks, down to individual images, videos, or assessments.
The OER movement became popular when Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched MIT Open
Courseware in October 2002, making all of the materials used in the teaching of MIT courses available for free
on the Web. Washington, Utah, Illinois, and California have all set up programs to help their educators access
and share OER.

Open Educational Data

The open data movement provides datasets that can be freely used in the development of tools and apps for
education. Data.gov is a repository of nearly 300 open educational datasets from the federal governement,
ranging from names and addresses of all schools in the country, to dropout rates by college, to areas of teacher
shortages. These datasets can be used to create apps that help students make informed choices about college,
visualize educational trends, improve career planning, and compare educational institutions. The following
summarizes some particularly useful education datasets on data.gov.
The Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS) gathers information from more than 7,000 U.S.
colleges and universities. Institutions report data on enrollment, program completions, graduation
rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and financial aid. IPEDS offers information about
college access, comparative pricing, graduation rates, degree types, instructional costs, finances, and
on-campus crime.

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 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) collects education access and equity data by race/ethnicity, sex,
English proficiency, and disability. The collection captures elementary and secondary school data on
education access and opportunities, including access to college- and career-readiness courses, teacher
equity, school expenditures, retention, access to pre-K programs, athletics, restraint and seclusion,
bullying and harassment, and discipline. The CRDC also provides information on athletics and teacher
salaries.
Common Core of Data (CCD) provides an official listing of all public elementary and secondary schools
and school districts in the nation. The CCD provides information on student population characteristics
by gender, race, and grade; the number of schools that opened and closed each school year in every state
and school district; the percentage of students attending charter schools; the teacher-to-student ratio;
high school completion rates; employee salary and benefit information; and per-pupil expenditures.
EDFacts is a U.S. Department of Education initiative to put performance data at the center of policy,
management, and budget decisions for all K12 education programs. It is the central collection system
and national repository for federal program information on state, district, and school performance
measures. EDFacts provides data on the percentage of students reaching grade-level proficiency in
reading or math, the percentage of a ninth-grade cohort that graduated in four years, and the proportion
of a districts Title I schools that have been identified as needing focused attention or improvement.
The Federal Student Aid Data Center is a repository for information on the more than 9 million Pell
Grants and over 23 million student loans disbursed annually. This data center provides institutionallevel data on how much each postsecondary institution receives in the student aid programs each year,
along with performance information like the student loan default rate. It also contains information
on earnings and loan repayment for
vocationally oriented programs.
The National Student Loan Data
System (NSLDS) is the U.S.
Department of Education's central
database for student aid. NSLDS
receives data from schools, guaranty
agencies, the Direct Loan program,
and other Department of Education
programs. NSLDS Student Access
provides a centralized view of
Federal Student Aid so that aid
recipients can access their federal
student loan and/or grant data.
It also offers an implementation
of the MyData service to enable
download of personal data. NSLDS
contains extensive data on federal
grants and loans provided to
individual students along with their
background information. There are

Education Secretary Arne Duncan visits with app developers at an Education Datapalooza

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a variety of potential applications for these data, such as student financial and educational advisement,
personal management of financial aid, search assistance for supplementary financial aid, or services
targeted to financial aid recipients.
The U.S. Department of Education encourages the use of open government data to develop tools and apps to
help students and their families. From time to time the Department hosts events that bring diverse stakeholders
together to brainstorm ideas for app development based on open data. Over a course of 90 days the participants
are encouraged to design new apps or integrate data sets into existing apps in new ways. Products are then
displayed at a Datapalooza event to highlight the apps and tools that use open data in helpful ways. Visit
tech.ed.gov/datapalooza to see examples of apps, or visit tech.ed.gov/open-education to learn more about the
Department's open education initiatives.

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Important Trends in the

Education Landscape
Whatever topic or skill you decide to focus on, you are sure to encounter some of the major educational trends
highlighted here. Some of the most interesting innovations in K12 are happening around them and because of
them. In addition to the specific practices outlined below, the District Reform Support Network has published
case studies of lessons learned in four of the Departments Race to the Top District grantees. The case studies
can provide in-depth understanding of what innovative practices look like within districts as well as initial
lessons learned in how those practices have been adopted.

Stories From the Field: From Academic Research to

Tools for Classroom Practice
Dr. Bill Cope is a professor at the College of Education at the University of Illinois and the
director of Common Ground Publishing.

"Mary Kalantzis and I have always tried to translate our research into practice. In the past, this was by producing
curriculum resources. However, over the past few years we have translated our research into softwarethe

Scholar writing and assessment environment. This would not have been possible without the support of IESboth
through the SBIR program and technology transfer in the case of IES grants to the university. Scholar realizes

everything we have been arguing for in our research work for the past several decades. In Scholar, students can
produce multimodal pieces of writing, including images, videos, audio, and datasets (in fact any digital media),

inline, within the writing. These are published into personal and class web portfolios. Scholar is an environment

for creating informational texts or write-ups of experiments in science or digital storytelling. Our research has also

focused on writing assessment, so Scholar includes multiple forms of assessment (rubric-based review by peers, self,
and/or teacher; in-text annotations; item-based surveys; and a dashboard that brings together overall results). Now
were on the path to commercialization and creating a self-sustaining enterprise. Our spin-off, Common Ground

Publishing, is located in the University of Illinois Research Park, and we have licensed the IP from the university.
Already, we have schools that have licensed Scholar from us directly and publishers who have provided content,
and we are currently in discussions with potential distributors."

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Blended Learning
Blended learning is an important support for transforming teaching and learning to increase individual student
performance. It goes beyond adding technology to an existing learning flow. In a blended learning environment,
part of the learning occurs online and part occurs face to face. Both the online and face-to-face experiences
are parts of a whole. They are blended into a seamless, integrated learning experience where learning in each
environment informs and supports the other. The Christensen Institute categorizes blended learning variations
and gives examples. A key element of most definitions of blended learning is the ability for a student to have
some control over time, place, path and/or pace.
Usually, the online time is personalized, so students can go at their own pace, get extra practice and remediation
if they need it, and follow their interests to the degree that the software supports that kind of personalization.
In many blended models, the students spend some of their face-to-face time with the teacher in a large group,
some face-to-face time with a teacher or tutor in a small group, and some time learning with and from peers.
Technology may also support these face-to-face interactions.
Blended learning makes classrooms look and feel fundamentally different. The following video resources
demonstrate the practice:
What is Blended Learning? From The Learning Accelerator; an overview of blended learning (5 minutes)
Phaedrus Initiative: Blended Learning. From Seton Education Partners; shows data-driven instruction,
assessment, and differentiation in the first year of a blended learning program in San Francisco (9 minutes)
Blended Learning Energizes High School Math Students. From Edutopia; educator Peter McIntosh
helps his students take ownership of their learning by using interactive subject-mastery tools like
Khan Academy (5 minutes)
Blended Learning at the RI Model School. From The Highlander Institute; shows blended learning
using a classroom-rotation model in an elementary school (3 minutes)
KIPP Detailed Blended Learning. From KIPP Empower Academy; an example of blended learning
across grade levels (9 minutes)

Standards for Learning

Each state maintains a set of learning standardsskills that students must master at each grade level. These
learning standards serve as a map for the lessons and activities that teachers create. They are also the foundation
on which state assessments are designed. The Achievement Standards Network provides a machine-readable
list of all state standards.
Developers providing content solutions will need to know how their tools and apps align with the learning
standards for a specific state. One of the first questions a teacher or district leader will ask about a tool or app
is how well it supports improving student outcomes on state learning standards.
There are several learning standards initiatives that are important to know about if you are developing tools
and apps for the U.S. K12 audience.
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Common Core State Standards. Until recently, each state had its own learning standards in all subjects. This
can make it difficult for tool and app developers who may need to create 50 different versions of their app to
meet the various state standards. Several years ago, a number of states led an initiative to develop consistent,
real-world learning goals in math and English language arts. This effort, known as the Common Core, helps
ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, graduate from high school prepared for college and
career. Apps and tools that align with the Common Core can be used across multiple states without needing to
be redesigned. You can view the standards as well as the states that have adopted the Common Core at www.
CoreStandards.org.
College and career ready standards. A number of states have not adopted the Common Core State Standards
but have instead adopted separate college and career ready standards. In these cases, a network of institutions
of higher education in each state has certified that students who meet the curricular standards will be prepared
to enter college without remediation upon graduation from high school. To be successful in these states, you
will need to align your tools to individual state standards.
Next Generation Science Standards. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a research-based set
of interdisciplinary science standards across all grade levels, are similar in aim to the Common Core State
Standards. They are not yet as widely adopted, but the number of states embracing them is growing.
C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards. The College, Career and Civic Life C3 Framework was created
by state agencies and leading organizations in social studies and its individual disciplines to help districts
and states create standards for effective participation in college, career and civic life. They are also not yet as
widely adopted, but the number of states embracing them is also growing.

Testing/Assessment
When selecting a problem to solve or when talking to educators about what concerns them, you will find that
standardized testing often comes up because schools are held accountable for student performance. Test scores
affect teachers, administrators, and even local housing prices because many parents equate high test scores
with school quality when considering making a move to a new neighborhood. Test scores even affect the
school year calendar because any ancillary activities stop just before and during test weeks. Some of the major
standardized tests are described below.
To receive federal funds, each state must adopt statewide assessments in mathematics, English language arts, and
science that are aligned with their content standards. To help states meet this requirement, the U.S. Department
of Education funded two assessment consortia to develop assessments in mathematics and English language arts:
PARCC. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states
developing a common set of K12 assessments in English and mathematics. PARCC assessments are aligned
with the Common Core State Standards and replace annual assessments in states that transition to these online
exams. As a result, these assessments provide data on student proficiency across state lines.
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is a state-led
consortium developing next-generation assessments that accurately measure student progress toward college and
career readiness. The Smarter Balanced assessment system is aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

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No state is required to adopt either PARCC or Smarter Balanced in order to receive federal funds. Alternatively,
a state may adopt its own assessments aligned with its content standards.
NAEP. Commonly referred to as the Nations Report Card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP) is a national test administered periodically to gauge, through a sample of districts across the nation,
students knowledge and skills in various subject areas. The NAEP helps determine how states and urban
districts compare on student growth and achievement over time. It assesses math, reading, science, writing,
the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. The newest test to be released in 2014 will be on
technology and engineering literacy.
TIMSS. A global assessment is the Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
This assesses fourth- and eighth-grade students math
and science achievement. Administered every four
years, the next TIMSS assessment will be in 2015.
In 2011, a total of 500,000 students from more than
60 nations took it. Given the growing emphasis on
measuring students competencies based on both
statewide and international benchmarks, the value and
importance of the TIMSS assessments will most likely
increase in coming years.

Individualized,
Personalized, and
Differentiated Instruction
Individualization, differentiation, and personalization
have become buzzwords in education. The

following are the definitions used by the U.S.

Department of Education:

Personalized Learning

Individualization refers to instruction where the

Personalized learning is a core part of the vision

sketched by the National Education Technology Plan.
Personalization puts students at the center, empowers
them to take control of their learning, and offers
engaging learning experiences for all learners.

learners, allowing them to progress through the

Personalization can be a great asset to a teacher in

the classroom because it expands his or her ability
to provide tailored support for individual students
needs. One-on-one instruction, particularly for
struggling students, can be much more beneficial
than instruction with the whole class. Technology to
support personalized instruction can serve as an extra
pair of hands for struggling students, or it can provide
enriching opportunities for students performing
above grade level.

pace is adjusted to meet the needs of individual

material at different speeds.

Differentiation refers to changing the

instructional approach based on the needs of

individual learners. Learning goals are the same

for all students, but the method or approach of

instruction varies according to the preferences of

each student or what research has found works
best for particular students.

Personalization refers to instruction that is

paced to learning needs and tailored to both

learning preferences and specific interests of

different learners. In an environment that is fully

personalized, the learning objectives and content
as well as the method and pace may all vary.

Instead of having all students participate in the same

activity at the same time, teachers have more flexibility. Some students can be engaged in personalized learning
on computers or tablets, some can gather in small-group instruction with the teacher, and some can participate
in small-group centers.

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Finally, most personalization programs give teachers the ability to obtain an overview of how their students
are doing in a class. The ability to quickly assess which students have grasped a concept and which havent
without wasting class time giving and checking quizzesis invaluable for teachers.
For more on personalized learning, consider the series of reports from Education Week as well as the Race to the
Top & Personalized ED report which provides a summary of ED's peronalized learning grant program.

Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning makes learning meaningful and teaches skills that cut across many content areas:
creativity, collaboration, leadership, and the like. Learning takes place in the context of authentic problems,
continues over time, and brings in knowledge from many subjects. In this way, students can be assessed on
their ability to apply knowledge to real-world problems. The New Tech Network helps schools implement
project-based learning, and they offer a rubric to evaluate project ideas.
Another good set of resources on project-based learning can be found at the Buck Institute for Education (BIE). The
BIE website provides a set of answers to the question of why project-based learning as well as collected research on
the utility of project-based learning. Examples of project-based learning in action can also be found on Edutopia's
site. Project-based learning, if properly implemented and supported, helps students develop 21st century skills and
engage in complex, real-world challenges that help them meet new standards for critical thinking.

Mastery-Based Learning
Also known as mastery learning, competency-based learning is a growing focus of education conversations. The
premise is that students learn best by mastering a particular learning goal before moving on to new material that
builds on that goal. Instead of a group of students all moving from one topic to the next with varying degrees of
understanding, each student continues to work on a topic until he or she has mastered the content. Because students
of the same age advance through the curriculum at significantly different paces, schools that use this approach can no
longer use a traditional model. In the mastery-learning model, educators design progressions of sequential learning
goals that progress from simple knowledge and skills to complex tasks. For this to work well, the goals must be
personalized so that they are challenging to students but not too frustrating to achieve.
Mastery learning has an assessment counterpart: standards-based grading (not to be confused with standardized
testing). Instead of averaging a students general achievement over a period of time and representing this as a
grade, teachers in mastery systems evaluate student performance in specific topics and skills and categorize their
performance in levels of mastery, such as advanced, proficient, basic, or below basic. In a true standardsbased grading system, students do not progress until they demonstrate proficiency. See Robert Marzanos Formative
Assessments and Standards Based Grading for an in-depth look at mastery learning.

Teacher Certification
Teachers are certified to teacher either through traditional teacher education programs or through alternative
certification programs. Certification is generally the responsibility of the state. Traditional teachers are certified by
completing a bachelors or masters degree in education, after which they typically receive a preliminary probationary
certification. Then they must fulfill other requirementsadditional tests (usually a Praxis test), participating in
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a certain number of hours of professional development, student teaching, completing an induction program, or
getting a masters degree, depending on the statein order to receive permanent certification. Advanced teachers
can receive credentials from National Board Certification, a rigorous, peer-reviewed process that ensures that Boardcertified teachers have proven skills to advance student achievement.
Alternative certification programs, designed to expedite nontraditional pathways into the classroom, began
in the 1980s and have proliferated in the past decade. Some programs labeled alternative are more rigorous
and take even longer than traditional programs, whereas others are fast tracked and have little or no practical
training. Some of the large alternative programs are Teach for America, The New Teacher Project, and the
American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence; many smaller residency or online programs are also
available. Alternatively certified teachers accounted for approximately one fifth of the teaching force in 2006,
and that number has only grown since. Teachers with alternative certifications come from a wider array of
backgrounds, many having worked in other professions for years before transitioning to teaching.

Keeping Up with Ed Tech

As the ed tech space continues to grow, so does the number of media web sites and individual bloggers. Below
are several sites useful for keeping up with ed tech news.
EdSurge. The EdSurge weekly online newsletter is widely read in the ed tech community. EdSurge
also produces ES-Instruct for educators and the EdTech Index, a database that categorizes and reviews
hundreds of ed tech startups, products, and services.
Education Gadfly: Weekly ed tech updates produced by the Thomas Fordham Institute.
EdTech Times: Boston-based group whose site features daily news updates and features.
Edutopia focuses on practices and programs that help students acquire and effectively apply the
knowledge, attitudes, skills and beliefs to achieve their full potential.
EdWeek Digital Directions. Part of EdWeek, Digital Directions covers news, trends, and best practices
for the K12 tech audience.

EdTech Handbook is a series of contributed articles hosted at edtechhandbook.com.

eSchool News provides the latest educational technology news K-12 and higher education.
Getting Smart: Created by Tom Vander Ark, the Getting Smart site covers formal and informal topics
that cover K-12, higher education and lifelong learning. The organization has a particular focus on
innovation and personalized learning.
Graphite. Created by Common Sense Media, Graphite provides reviews of ed tech products where
educators can filter results by type (app or website), subject, grade level, and price. Product information
provided includes setup time, skills addressed, intended student audience, and tech notes. Designed
for educators, the products are reviewed by volunteer teachers who use a review system that examines
pros, cons, engagement, pedagogy, support, and the bottom line.
KQED MindShift. If youre looking for a deeper dive into topics related to learning, check out MindShift.
Launched in 2010 by KQED and NPR, MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions,
including cultural and technology trends, innovations in education, groundbreaking research, and
education policy.

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 New Learning Times is produced at the Ed Lab at the Teachers College at Columbia University and
provides daily coverage of learning opportunites to transformation education.
Startup Digest EDU shares the latest news and information about startups and innovations in education.
Tech and Learning: Published by New Bay Media, Tech and Learning includes a website, newsletter
and monthly magazine. Both a website and monthly paper publication, Tech and Learning focuses on
ed tech professionals responsible for implementing and purchasing for K-12 schools.
THE Journal is dedicated to informing and educating K-12 senior-level district and school administrators,
technologists and tech-savvy educators on educational technology issues. .
Twitter chats and hashtags can also be great resources for identifying important trends and issues in educational
technology. Here is schedule information and hashtags for education Twitter chats.

Final Words of Advice

Joseph South is the Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department
of Education. Prior to joining the Department he led the development of educational products for
Middlebury Interactive Languages and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"To an outside observer, it may appear that public education in America is changing very slowly or not at

all. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like the calm surface of a deep and powerful river, there are

massive, irresistible forces moving swiftly below the surface that will fundamentally reshape our schools. Not
all of the forces are positive. Poverty among public school students is increasing, not decreasing. Some forces
are neutral. The diversity of our schools is growing rapidly and permanently, providing both opportunities

and challenges. Some forces can change our schools completely or not much at all. Technology falls in this
category.

Tens of thousands of schools and millions of students will have access to broadband in their classrooms for the
first time over the next twelve to twenty four months. But access doesnt lead directly to change. Technology
is an accelerator; it allows us to scale the reach of what we have chosen to do with astonishing speed. But

it doesnt make our choices transformational. It can just as easily scale the bad as the good, the minimally

effective as much as the incredibly impactful. This is why the conversation must begin with a well-grounded,
transformational vision of learning itself. With that goal firmly in mind, we can then bring to bear the power
of technology to enable, measure, iterate, and refine our methods of achieving that vision.
And this is why we need you. Help us articulate that vision and find that path."

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The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student

achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering
educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

http://tech.ed.gov