Giving Compass' Take:

· The oversaturated market of education technology is beginning to hurt teachers and students. Here, Keith Westman explains how technology is given to teachers without proper instruction and the different systems cannot be used together.  

· How can technology empower teachers? How is edtech changing the way students learn?

· Learn about edtech and why it should be integrated to empower teachers and students.  

The field of education technology has grown considerably in recent years, both with new companies launching and with existing tech corporations (like Google) focusing on education initiatives. At a high level, it’s undoubtedly a good thing to have more people and resources dedicated to such an important part of our society. However, we’re now seeing the edtech market become oversaturated, and it’s actually harming education in some ways.

Simply put, there is too much focus on new technology. Schools have all this new technology, but they don’t know how to use it. Teachers receive all these shiny new tools, and they have to use them because the school has spent money on them. Without a plan in place for how these tools will actually improve student learning, this technology is often used simply for the sake of being used.

Worse yet, there is no interoperability between these different tech tools — the data is living in silos and it’s not being utilized to form a complete picture of student achievement, much less make informed decisions about students. It takes a monumental effort to use all of these tools properly and in conjunction with each other. Teachers find themselves drowning in technology that was meant to make their lives easier, and that leads to worse outcomes for everyone.

This may sound counterintuitive coming from someone who works at an edtech company, but it’s a truth we’ve had to reconcile with. We know tech isn’t the most important factor in changing education for the better: the best edtech tool is an empowered teacher.

Read the full article about empowered teachers by Keith Westman at Getting Smart.