This discussion built on previous sessions exploring EdTech as a tool that increases student engagement and expands the reach of tutoring, literacy instruction and other interventions. We saw EdTech get a big boost during the pandemic as schools shifted to remote learning, which also underscored the importance of closing the digital divide. In this week’s continuation of CGLR’s “Big Bets Working” series, we discussed strategies to make sure all students have access to the technology assets that work to accelerate equitable learning recovery.  

Moderator John Gomperts of CGLR introduced the discussion by asking national EdTech leaders Jean-Claude Brizard of Digital Promise Global and Erin Mote of InnovateEDU how they approach digital equity and digital access. These experts explained that while access to broadband and devices is key, equally important to closing the digital divide is building an understanding of how technology is supposed to be used in the classroom or at home to enhance and advance learning. Both panelists agreed that EdTech will never replace a great teacher and a healthy skepticism will keep us focused on how to make it fit into what we know works for young learners. Brizard described how he has seen EdTech be a big benefit to learning acceleration: 

“In digital education, we’re coming up with new amazing ways of looking at the science of reading and joyful learning, which is really important, and bringing that into classrooms….How kids learn is still the foundational work. How technology enhances that, making the teacher’s job more doable, I think, is the power. And bringing more adults to support a young person, not just in the classroom….There are multiple ways in which we see technology enhancing the instructional process.”

Gomperts then engaged with program leaders and practitioners who have been successfully using EdTech to both enhance learning and expand access to their models to reach more learners and make a greater impact on early literacy and other areas of student development. Beth Rabbitt of The Learning Accelerator, Jessica Sliwerski of Ignite Reading and Mindy Sjoblom of OnYourMark discussed how they are using EdTech to advance learning and achieve real results. They also talked about using technology to replicate their evidence-based models to reach more communities and more students. Sliwerski described how although tech is essential to her literacy program, it is only one part of what leads to success for students: 

“What we are doing with Ignite Reading is delivering live, highly trained humans into kids’ classrooms for 15 minutes of virtual instruction a day, every day. And they are working one on one with kids teaching to their precise decoding gaps in order to ensure that they learn to read with automaticity and fluency. And so there’s this tech component that is underpinning a deeply human act. And this is really core to how we are getting student engagement and then ultimately really strong outcomes in our program.”