Education technology and digital learning

Where EdTech helps foundational learning

The strongest uses in early-grade literacy and numeracy tend to be unglamorous: making assessment fast enough to act on, getting teaching materials to teachers who lack them, supporting teacher training at distance, and giving administrators a current picture of learning rather than a year-old one.

Technology that replaces the teacher in early grades has a weaker record than technology that supports the teacher's method.

• Rapid assessment and quick feedback loops
• Distribution of teaching and learning materials
• Teacher training, coaching and refresher content at distance
• Data for district and state administrators in usable time

Constraints that decide what is possible

Connectivity, device availability, electricity, language coverage, teacher confidence and recurring cost determine what can run in a government school system — often more than the quality of the product itself.

Honest discussion of those constraints is more valuable to a ministry evaluating EdTech than a demonstration under ideal conditions.

AI in education, used carefully

Interest in artificial intelligence for education is high. In foundational learning the credible near-term uses are narrower than the enthusiasm suggests — assisting assessment, generating and adapting practice material, and supporting teachers — and they still depend on a sound underlying pedagogy.

EdTech organisations at the Lab

EdTech organisations participate in the Lab's programme and in the FLN Expo, where solutions can be shown to the officials, practitioners and partners who would have to deploy them.

Common questions

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