Measuring the Impact of EdTech: Reflections from the Learning Bytes Festival

The Learning Bytes Festival discussed one of the biggest challenges facing the education sector: do EdTech solutions really work? How do you measure their success beyond engagement and completion rates?

The complexity of measuring impact in EdTech

According to UNESCO, there are more than 100,000 EdTech products in the world, but many are not adequately evaluated. Often, success is measured by usage and engagement, but not necessarily by meaningful learning. This raises a critical question: are we automating ineffective practices by implementing technologies without rigorous analysis?

International models for impact assessment

Several countries are already making progress in the creation of collaborative ecosystems for the validation of EdTech solutions:

Sweden: Suppliers can be part of Testbeds as long as they are established solutions, not emerging startups.
Lithuania: They work with international partners to integrate EdTech in schools, which have specific funding.
Ireland: Trinity College Dublin's Learnovate project integrates educational technology with academic rigor.
Switzerland: EPFL and the Swiss EdTech Collider collaborate on research and academic publications based on real data.
Netherlands: The government has invested EUR 80 million by 2030 to strengthen education through technology, working directly with teachers and schools.

Keys to sustainable impact

One of the most interesting ideas was to turn Testbeds into formative processes for teachers, creating clear agreements around technology implementation. This not only strengthens the capacity of schools to use technology effectively, but also ensures that the impact goes beyond superficial use.

The ultimate goal should not be to find a perfect solution, but one that allows continuous progress: "Always better, never best".

Conclusion

The great risk of technology in education is to believe that by the mere fact of implementing it, the impact is guaranteed. We must create rigorous evaluation processes that focus on real learning and teacher empowerment. To do this, we need a combination of scientific evidence, professional expertise and a contextualized approach.

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