Research Based Ed Tech
Research Based -Using Research in Ed Tech: What Does âResearch-Basedâ Really Mean?
Research Based -By Aubrey Francisco and Sandra Nakagawa
Aubrey is the Research Director at Digital Promise and Sandra is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at Stanford University.
In a recent Digital Promise study, a majority of ed tech product developers told us their products are âresearch-based.â Yet, many school leaders are skeptical of these claims. It can be difficult to find details about research study findings in companiesâ marketing materials, or to interpret how the developer applied these findings.
On the other hand, developers arenât always sure what kind of research evidence is most valuable to their customers. Both groups are left to wonder: What does âresearch-basedâ really mean? What is the best way to use research to create an effective product?
With the release of their Ed Tech Developerâs Guide, the U.S. Department of Education is helping lead the way to support developers in translating education research into useful products, and testing products to make sure they lead to improved outcomes.
To extend this work, we conducted a crowdsource campaign and collected examples of how 38 developers use research from initial concept to final product. Our new report, âUsing Research in Ed Tech,â shares promising practices, quotes, and examples from these submissions.
The developers highlighted in this report say that using research is a win-win: it results in more effective products that will improve outcomes for teachers and students, while also improving their own ability to excel in the competitive ed tech marketplace. We hope the real-world examples in this report help clarify what âresearch-basedâ means, and start a conversation about how researchers, product developers, and educators can collaborate to create more research-based products.
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