It’s well-known that there’s a general lack of rigorous evidence for edtech efficacy and even effectiveness. But I’d argue there’s an even bigger, foundational problem that’s rarely discussed.
We don’t fully understand edtech’s impact on wellbeing and classroom culture. Until we do, I don’t think we’ll ever see edtech achieve impact at scale.
I was thinking about this at SXSW earlier this month. I attended several panels that touched on a well-known issue in edtech research: research-backed products often succeed in one environment but stumble in another. And even when they appear successful at a high level, closer examination sometimes reveals that a tool benefits those who need it least, or, relatedly, success hinges on implementation.
This isn’t surprising to anyone in edtech research or working in schools. Technology, by its nature, gets used by people and in particular environments. It can be used well or not. Implementation models can also have realistic or unrealistic expectations for how a tool gets used.
However, there’s a big gap in our understanding of edtech: how technology itself affects or conditions implementation.
I’m interested in how the presence and use of particular tools in a room shape classroom culture and the wellbeing of students and teachers (positively and negatively). This is something inextricable from using edtech that everyone intuitively knows but gets buried under our collective focus on academic gains or “motivation” and “engagement.”
To fill this gap in understanding, we need to ask questions like:
- What makes a tool fit into a specific classroom and get teachers and students excited to use it?
- Why do some “research-backed” tools suck the energy out of a room and get set aside?
- What does it mean when a tool increased academic outcomes but de-motivates students?
- What learning values and principles do different tools reflect and support? How do we know?
When we start to get answers to these questions, we can then create resources and support for designing, selecting, and evaluating edtech based on its impact on wellbeing and culture. And we have to, because this culture is the foundational soil from which everything else — from impact on learning outcomes to effective implementation — grows.
Interestingly, when it comes to personal tech (not edtech) in schools, wellbeing is a top priority. Everyone intuitively understands that the classroom environment shifts when smartphones get brought in. Hence the heated debate about smartphones in classrooms and social media’s impact on mental health.
It’s only a matter of time before the wellbeing conversation focuses on edtech.
My fear, though, is that without research any policies, resources, and services that emerge will devolve into blanket bans that unfairly and erroneously treat all screens and tools equally.
Originally published on LinkedIn on March 26, 2025.