Edtech is a portmanteau of the phrase “education technology". It's the practice of combining technology, in various forms, with conventional educational practices in the classroom to create a more engaging, inclusive, and individualized learning experience for all students.

The way we learn, how we interact with classmates and teachers, and our overall enthusiasm for the same subjects is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Everyone learns at their own pace and in their own style. EdTech tools make it easier for teachers to create individualized lesson plans and learning experiences that foster a sense of inclusivity and boost the learning capabilities of all students, no matter their age or learning abilities.

Depending on what purpose it is intended to serve, EdTech can take many different forms inside or outside the classroom, including educational apps and games, podcasts, learning management systems (LMS), video conferencing software like Zoom, and online discussion forums, to name just a few. Even social media platforms, which are often dismissed as time-wasters, can serve educational purposes, such as course-specific Facebook groups.

When used appropriately, EdTech can make learning fun, memorable, and accessible, leading not only to better student engagement, but also improved career preparedness. In addition to K-12 and college students, EdTech also has benefits for teachers, families, and administrators.

Excerpt from Foundations of Educational Technology

The current definition of Educational Technology, as defined by the Definition and Terminology Committee of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is “the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008, p. 1).

Januszewski & Molenda (2008) further describe each of the major terms in the above definition as follows:

• Study – research and reflective practice in order to “examine the appropriate applications of processes and technologies to the improvement of learning” (p. 2).

• Ethical practice – ethics are not merely rules to follow, but the basis for our practice as educational technologists. We should question our assumptions and seek to serve the benefit of learners and of society.

• Facilitating – the focus in the field has shifted from its early focus on transferring knowledge from teacher to learner to a focus on facilitating activities and environments that engage the learner and lead to deep learning.

• Learning – the current conception of learning goes beyond mere retention of information to encompass “the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes used beyond the classroom walls” (p. 4).

• Improving – educational technology should provide efficient and cost-effective ways to bring about the desired learning benefits.

• Performance – the “ability to use and apply the new capabilities gained” (p. 7).

• Creating – “the research, theory, and practice involved in the generation of instructional materials, learning environments, and large teaching learning systems in many different settings” (p. 7).

• Using – includes the selection of an appropriate resource as well as its implementation.

• Managing – can include project management and management of large-scale systems.

• Appropriate – suitable for the defined purpose, based on information and sound professional judgement

• Technological – processes and resources

• Process – “ a series of activities directed towards a specific result” (p. 11)

• Resources – “people, tools, technologies, and materials designed to help learners” (p. 12).

As this collection of terms demonstrate, "educational technology" encompasses much more than simply the use of the latest digital gadgets. Educational technology involves a thoughtful effort to employ the right technologies in the right way to meet learning goals.

Benefits for Students

Increased Collaboration

Cloud-enabled tools and tablets are fostering collaboration in the classroom. Tablets loaded with learning games and online lessons give children the tools to solve problems together. Meanwhile, cloud-based apps let students upload their homework and digitally converse with one another about their thought processes and for any help they may need.

24/7 Access to Learning

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are making it easier for students to have full access to the classroom in a digital environment. Whether they’re at school, on the bus or at home, connected devices are giving students Wi-Fi and cloud access to complete work at their own pace (and on their own schedules) without being hampered by the restriction of needing to be present in a physical classroom.

Various apps also help students and teachers stay in communication in case students have questions or need to alert teachers to an emergency.

Optional Reading: The Connected Classroom: 9 Examples of IoT in Education

"Flipping” the Classroom

Edtech tools are flipping the traditional notion of classrooms and education. Traditionally, students have to listen to lectures or read in class then work on projects and homework at home. With video lectures and learning apps, students can now watch lessons at home at their own pace, using class time to collaboratively work on projects as a group. This type of learning style helps foster self-learning, creativity and a sense of collaboration among students.

Personalized Educational Experiences

Edtech opens up opportunities for educators to craft personalized learning plans for each of their students. This approach aims to customize learning based on a student’s strengths, skills and interests.

Video content tools help students learn at their own pace and because students can pause and rewind lectures, these videos can help students fully grasp lessons. With analytics, teachers can see which students had trouble with certain lessons and offer further help on the subject.

Instead of relying on stress-inducing testing to measure academic success, educators are now turning to apps that consistently measure overall aptitude. Constant measurements display learning trends that teachers can use to craft specialized learning plans based on each student’s strengths and weaknesses or, more importantly, find negative trends that can be proactively thwarted with intervention.

Attention-Grabbing Lessons

Do you remember sitting in class, half-listening, half-day dreaming? Now, with a seemingly infinite number of gadgets and outside influences vying for a student’s attention, it’s imperative to craft lesson plans that are both gripping and educational. Edtech proponents say technology is the answer. Some of the more innovative examples of students using tech to boost classroom participation include interacting with other classrooms around the world via video, having students submit homework assignments as videos or podcasts and even gamifying problem-solving.

Along with its many advantages, EdTech challenges will inevitably confront students and their teachers.

1. Equity Issues:

For example, technological issues are commonplace, such as poor wi-fi connectivity, audio or video distortion, trouble uploading or downloading files, difficulty installing programs, slow internet speeds, lost passwords, and incompatible apps or updates.

2. Accessibility:

A lot of the apps being developed for educational purposes have a financial motivation for developing and maintaining the applications they release. This eye on profit means that smaller companies will only have the means to cater to the masses when it comes to accessibility features that students with disabilities require.

Larger companies like Google and Microsoft know that it is in their best interest to provide such features if they are to outclass one another in the race for mass integration, but it is simply not sustainable for smaller developers.

3. Shrinking Competition:

Early adopters to EdTech have always been smaller developers who catered to the niche market. Large corporations have never deemed it to be cost-effective to focus their development and marketing efforts towards K12 or higher-ed institutions, and they were absolutely correct. However, there was a massive shift after COVID-19, and now, applications such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, which were targetted for business industries, are being rebranded as "Education Tools".

Google is the one powerhouse that saw the benefits of offering its services to educators fairly early on....at least earlier than all of its main competitors. However, even they restricted access to some of their more powerful tools, such as Google Meet and Jamboard, for businesses.

After 2020, companies like Google and Microsoft have begun looking at developing solutions for classrooms, students, and educators, but given their relative strength and size of resources compared to other developers, it will be difficult to preserve competition in EdTech.

4. Insufficient Training & Lingering Biases:

All discussions about the benefits of education technology, invariably almost always has the caveat "if used properly". This disclaimer is essential because many teachers lack sufficient training, experience, or confidence when it comes to integrating technology into their lessons. Many teachers still believe that technology has no place in the classroom, and those biases are also impacting the effectiveness of EdTech.

When used ineffectively, EdTech may also pose challenges to student engagement. For example, confusing or hard-to-use programs can cause students to become overwhelmed and give up on assignments, especially without the normal social support from their peers.

Excerpt from McKinsey & Company, New global data reveal education technology’s impact on learning

First, technology must be used correctly to be effective.

Our experience in the field has taught us that it is not enough to “add technology” as if it were the missing, magic ingredient. The use of tech must start with learning goals, and software selection must be based on and integrated with the curriculum. Teachers need support to adapt lesson plans to optimize the use of technology, and teachers should be using the technology themselves or in partnership with students, rather than leaving students alone with devices.

These lessons hold true regardless of geography. Another ICT survey question asked principals about schools’ capacity using digital devices. Globally, students performed better in schools where there were sufficient numbers of devices connected to fast internet service; where they had adequate software and online support platforms; and where teachers had the skills, professional development, and time to integrate digital devices in instruction. This was true even accounting for student socioeconomic status, school type, and location.

Second, technology must be matched to the instructional environment and context.

One of the most striking findings in the latest PISA assessment is the extent to which technology has had a different impact on student outcomes in different geographies. This corroborates the findings of our 2010 report, How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better. Those findings demonstrated that different sets of interventions were needed at different stages of the school-system reform journey, from poor-to-fair to good-to-great to excellent. In poor-to-fair systems, limited resources and teacher capabilities, as well as poor infrastructure and internet bandwidth, are likely to limit the benefits of student-based technology.

Our previous work suggests that more prescriptive, teacher-based approaches and technologies (notably data projectors) are more likely to be effective in this context. For example, social enterprise Bridge International Academies equips teachers across several African countries with scripted lesson plans using e-readers. In general, these systems would likely be better off investing in teacher coaching than in a laptop per child. For administrators in good-to-great systems, the decision is harder, as technology has quite different impacts across different high-performing systems.

Third, technology involves a learning curve at both the system and student levels.

It is no accident that the systems in which the use of education technology is more mature are getting more positive impact from tech in the classroom.

The United States stands out as the country with the most mature set of education-technology products, and its scale enables companies to create software that is integrated with curricula. A similar effect also appears to operate at the student level; those who dabble in tech may be spending their time learning the tech rather than using the tech to learn. This learning curve needs to be built into technology-reform programs.