IEFG BIG Series: Measuring what Matters in EdTech

07/14/24 • 37 min

Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear Series. In this conversation, our hosts and guests will demystify how we measure the impact of EdTech. They will discuss the need and methods used to ensure we're collecting the right kind of evidence to ascertain that a particular EdTech has its intended effect on students' learning.
The hosts for this episode are:

John Soleanicov, the Co-Lead of the Learning Schools Portfolio at the Jacobs Foundation. He is a Romanian-born, U.S.-raised professional with more than 15 years of global experience in financial services, management consulting, and education.
Suraj Shah is the Lead for Strategic Partnerships for the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning. He is responsible for collaborations between the Mastercard Foundation and the various Governments/Ministries of Education in Africa and Strategic Partnerships with education stakeholders. His primary focus is aligning with governments across Africa to bridge education challenges with innovative EdTech solutions.

Joining them will be

Ciku Mbugua, Innovation Manager at Brink, works on one of Brink’s programmes, Edtech Hub, across two teams: In the innovation team to support teams to iteratively test and grow promising EdTech interventions using the sandbox tool, and in the engagement team as the country lead in Kenya. As country lead, Ciku specifically supports government, development partners and EdTech entrepreneurs with evidence and technical assistance to accelerate technology integration in education.
Loïc Watine, Chief Research & Policy Officer at Innovation for Poverty Action, is responsible for leading our overall strategy to ensure that our research is relevant to and used by decision-makers and to equip them to use data and evidence to improve the lives of people living in poverty. He provides strategic guidance and leadership to a team of senior leaders overseeing IPA’s Sector programs, Policy team, and Right-Fit-Evidence unit, who together form the Research & Policy global team and work closely with our Country Office teams.

Here are some resources if you would like to learn more about evidence measurement in edtech:

Here's a link to the EdTech Hub website and evidence library.
Learn more about LEVANTE here.
Learn more about m-Lugha here.

Here is a resource bank of events, resources, and collaboratives to learn more about EdTech. You can add more resources and comment on the current list to enrich it further.
This podcast was brought to you by the International Education Funders Group, curated and edited by Anjali Nambiar, with post-production by Sarah Miles. You can learn more about the IEFG at www.iefg.org.

Subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! And don't forget to rate and recommend this podcast to your colleagues.
You can follow the IEFG on LinkedIn here. https://www.linkedin.com/company/international-education-funders-group-iefg

Send us a text

John Soleanicov, the Co-Lead of the Learning Schools Portfolio at the Jacobs Foundation. He is a Romanian-born, U.S.-raised professional with more than 15 years of global experience in financial services, management consulting, and education.
Suraj Shah is the Lead for Strategic Partnerships for the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning. He is responsible for collaborations between the Mastercard Foundation and the various Governments/Ministries of Education in Africa and Strategic Partnerships with education stakeholders. His primary focus is aligning with governments across Africa to bridge education challenges with innovative EdTech solutions.

Joining them will be

Ciku Mbugua, Innovation Manager at Brink, works on one of Brink’s programmes, Edtech Hub, across two teams: In the innovation team to support teams to iteratively test and grow promising EdTech interventions using the sandbox tool, and in the engagement team as the country lead in Kenya. As country lead, Ciku specifically supports government, development partners and EdTech entrepreneurs with evidence and technical assistance to accelerate technology integration in education.
Loïc Watine, Chief Research & Policy Officer at Innovation for Poverty Action, is responsible for leading our overall strategy to ensure that our research is relevant to and used by decision-makers and to equip them to use data and evidence to improve the lives of people living in poverty. He provides strategic guidance and leadership to a team of senior leaders overseeing IPA’s Sector programs, Policy team, and Right-Fit-Evidence unit, who together form the Research & Policy global team and work closely with our Country Office teams.

Here are some resources if you would like to learn more about evidence measurement in edtech:

Here's a link to the EdTech Hub website and evidence library.
Learn more about LEVANTE here.
Learn more about m-Lugha here.

Previous Episode

IEFG BIG Series: Bridging Learning Inequity with EdTech

Send us a text

Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear series. Can EdTech be the force for bridging learning inequities, or will it exacerbate them even further? Hear the perspectives of our hosts and their guests as they discuss this and consider possible roadmaps to navigate this divide.

Our hosts are

Raman Sidhu is the CEO of the Octava Foundation, where she stewards the foundation’s investment in Education, Technology in Education, and Social Innovation. She has spent more than a decade in venture philanthropy, specializing in supporting and scaling education and employability solutions.

Guilherme Cintra is from Lemann Foundation, where he manages innovative processes and shares knowledge, achieving ambitious and transformative goals. His work focuses on promoting the development of educational solutions in Literacy, Fundamental Education, and Leadership, contributing to the advancement of education at the national level.
With them, we have guests

Seiji Isotani is a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Full Professor of Computer Science and Learning Technology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He has dedicated his research career to advancing the science concerning how people learn with interactive/intelligent educational technologies and ensuring that every student receives a fulfilling and meaningful educational experience.

Cate Noble is the co-founder of Better Purpose. She brings experience as an education leader, having previously been CEO of the Varkey Foundation and a Director at PwC, as well as senior education-focused roles with not-for-profit, commercial, and government organizations.

Here are some resources for your reference:
Batazia- translation AI
DIKSHA - India's EdTech platform
MIT Solve- Learning challenges

Next Episode

IEFG: BIG Series: Philanthropy's role in Edtech

Send us a text

Welcome to the IEFG Brains in Gear Series. Today, we'll hear three perspectives on the question, "What should philanthropy do to support edtech in low- and middle-income countries?". We have three speakers who will share their thoughts and ideas on the role of philanthropy in the future of edtech.
Elyas Felfoul is the Director of WISE, Qatar Foundation, and leads the strategic development and operational management of the WISE Summit's Platform while also leading the growth of the PRIZE and EdTech Accelerator Programs. Leveraging his diverse background in both public and private sectors, Elyas brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to WISE. Prior to his current role, he served as a political advisor to a Vice-Prime Minister in Quebec, Canada. Subsequently, Elyas worked at a Toronto-based firm specializing in M&A.

Angela Haydel DeBarger, serves as Program Officer in Education at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Her portfolio addresses open education with the aim of democratizing knowledge, creating inclusive and engaging experiences for learners, and advancing racial equity in education systems. Previously, Angela served as senior program officer for Lucas Education Research at the George Lucas Educational Foundation, where she led elementary and middle school project-based learning initiatives.

Salvador Paiz, Chairperson at Funsepa, spearheads "Guatemala Moving Forward," a strategy to boost economic growth, and is deeply involved in improving education through organizations like Empresarios por la Educación and the Inter American Dialogue. For 20 years, Funsepa has worked tirelessly to leverage technology as a development tool.

Here are some resources from the conversation:

Learn more about Funcepa's work here.
Learn more about PHET here
Learn more about Learning Equality here
Learn more about Web Aflia here
Learn more about Learning Equality and Kolibri here

97BN - IEFG BIG Series: Measuring what Matters in EdTech

Transcript

Ciku: The reality of EdTech is that it cannot only wait for large RCT studies to tell us what it is that we need to know.

Suraj: One of the things that really kind of caused a few alarm bells was the GEM report from UNESCO, which said while we're seeing a lot of interventions of education technologists. Over the years, especially with low and middle income countries, we're still not seeing the evidence of whether that actually is improving education out