FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST DEVOTE MORE RESOURCES TO EDTECH RESEARCH, STUDY SAYS

The federal government needs to invest more money and resources in edtech research so that schools can adopt new products that are proven to work, according to a new study from the School of Education at the University of Virginia.

The School of Education, Digital Promise and the Jefferson Education Accelerator, which is run out of the university, hosted a symposium in May that focused on the role of research in the development, adoption and implementation of edtech. The organizations recently released the final results of the study, which stems from a yearlong collaboration between several stakeholders.

Investigators found that school leaders around the country face a mixed marketplace of technology products, with only a small amount developed by researchers using federal dollars. Most of the money that backs edtech comes from start-ups, entrepreneurs and other companies seeking a profit