The Venture Landscape and Future Forecast

Revenue models and purchasing decisions

“In Canada, the provinces and territories have exclusive jurisdiction over education. Provinces and territories provide school districts with digital tools for system and institutional management, and, albeit to a lesser extent, with digital resources for teaching and learning. School districts and school staff receive guidance and professional training on the use of those tools and resources, but they can acquire and use those from other providers through their own procurement decisions.” (OECD)

I. Revenue Models

The Canadian EdTech market primarily uses Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscription services. Provinces and territories usually select their own technology resources as opposed to any form of national standard therefore the markets need to target them in that manner.

II. Purchasing Decisions

Some countries adopt national purchasing decisions and even contract external agencies to take this on. In Canada, the purchasing decisions are made at the local levels but not typically the teachers. Teachers can often provide influence and insight into the decisions, through pilot projects and demonstrations but the final decision is in the hands of the leadership decision makers and compliance regulators.

Educational value and evidence of effectiveness

Expectations are demanding that EdTech tools demonstrate their true value and provide proof of their effectiveness. They are looking for tools that are not a novelty but have documented proof of usefulness. Peer-reviewed studies, independent evaluations, improved student achievement(s), and increased student engagement are some desired results. Teachers are looking for tools that decrease their workload in a supportive manner. Often, they are looking at the results of pilot projects and success stories for others that have implemented the tool.

Ideologies that are being sought answer key questions. Do they provide feature like:

Adaptive learning
Formative assessment
AI-supported personalized learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Indigenous ways of knowing
Social-emotional learning
Inquiry-based learning

“Using multiple regression analysis, we found that teachers with higher AI-EdTech self-efficacy and AI understanding perceive more benefits, fewer concerns, and report more trust in AI-EdTech.” (Vilberg)

Teachers do not just want to see the quantitative data, they want to see the results in the classroom and that also requires the training that goes with it.

Scalability, accessibility, and total cost of ownership

Scalability

Canada is a large land mass and scalability needs to accommodate the needs of a long list of diverse needs:

Multiple provinces that are made up of urban and rural districts and even remote northern communities
Multiple language needs with three official languages; English, French, and Inuktut with the need to also support the multitude of languages that are represented by those immigrating from other countries.

Accessibility

Accessibility has become a major purchasing requirement.

Products should support:

WCAG accessibility standards (WCAG)
Screen readers
Closed captioning
Alternative input devices
Dyslexia-friendly design
Colour accessibility
Multiple languages

Accessibility is no longer considered optional. (Web Accessibility Initiative)

Total Cost of Ownership

The most common method of access is through Software-as-a-Service (Saas) subscription based services. Often the lower the monthly cost, the higher other costs are. When looking at the overall cost, several factors are considered in the total cost. Implementation, including initial and ongoing training. Are there any devices needed and will there be additional infrastructure needed? When rolling out the software, there are costs associated with software and data migration. Ongoing costs need to be considered like technical support services, ongoing maintenance and any renewal fees.

Privacy, ethics, equity, and teacher agency

I. Privacy

“At the federal level, Canada has two laws that define the largest part of the country’s regulation around the protection of data and privacy, in education as well as in other public and private sectors: the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). FIPPA protects personal information by setting guidelines for use and guarantees individuals the right to access their own information held by public bodies, such as schools; PIPEDA ensures that individual consent be acquired for personal information to be collected, used, or disclosed." (OECD)

Privacy is one of the most challenging barriers for adoption of EdTech in Canada. Many of the programs have their data stored outside of Canada and that is often not permitted under the privacy laws. As members of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNESCO), Canada must comply with both a child’s right to an education but also their right to privacy. (Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada)

In order to maintain legal compliance, the data must also be controlled and protected. Minimal standards for secure authentication and encryption need to be ensured and maintained. Even the most robust security can still be hacked. Policies and services need to be in place to determine the response in the case of unauthorized access; this requires ongoing funding, tech support, and monitoring.

II. Ethics

There are ethics questions that need to be considered when engaging and selecting the EdTech resources.

What is consent and how do we ensure that we are maintaining the standards for the students?

Who is collecting and storing the data? Who has access to the data?

Ontario, Alberta school boards caught unprepared in mass student data breach: provincial watchdogs | CBC News

Are the results being skewed by systemic bias within the AI database?

“AI bias research has continued to expand since 2023, with growing evidence that LLMs exhibit systematic bias not just in image generation but in text, including in tasks directly relevant to teaching. Studies have shown that language models produce different quality feedback, grading assessments, and professional recommendations depending on demographic cues embedded in names or writing styles." (MIT Sloan Teaching and Learning Technologies)

III. Equity

Technology should reduce educational inequality rather than increase it.

Teachers increasingly expect AI to assist rather than replace professional judgment.

Gaps and barriers in the current market

I. Current Gaps

Several unmet gaps remain and many of them are linked to the needs within Canadian schools:

The need for better AI tools that are in alignment with Canadian curriculum
Early intervention through identification of key indicators
French language education resources
Indigenous content developed collaboratively with communities
Mental health supports
Cross platform interactivity
Parental engagement and supports
Education around career development and trades training

II. Barriers

Despite the desire for AI tools to become available, there are still many barriers.

Schools have limited budgets. Procurement processes can be slow, especially if there are privacy approvals that need to be completed. Additional costs come in if there are devices needed or infrastructure changes required. Some communities do not have ready access to the internet or there are issues affecting the quality of the services (e.g. weather).There are ongoing costs such as tech support, repairs, and subscriptions.

One of the most important barriers are the teachers. Their time and capacity is often maxed out before they get to the question of new technologies. Do they have the time to train on the systems and then incorporate them into their day?

III. New venture opportunities

There are many new venture opportunities for Canadian K-12 classrooms.

They can act as a teacher's assistant. Taking on tasks such as helping with lesson planning, creating assessment rubrics, providing ideas for variations in lessons, grading records to assist with report writing, help personalize student learning needs, and even resource suggestions.

If used for student well-being, it could monitor attendance patterns, provide teachers with information about mental health warning signs, and even communication channels with other professionals such as school counsellors.

In consultation with the appropriate communities, improved cultural programs could be offered, especially around indigenous cultures.

Parental connections could be forged/strengthened, especially when there are language barriers present.

In addition to assisting with teacher lesson plans, it could be used to compare them against the skills-based goals that are required outcomes for student needs and to meet the policies governing them

IV. Predictions for the next three to five years

There are several trends that are expected to shape, not just Canadian schools, but society as a whole.

Artificial Intelligence and its outcropping will become more integrated into all areas. In classrooms, we will see the opportunity for teachers to have more support tools. Students will have access to more personalized learning, even basing much of it on their goals and interests.

As decision makers and policy makers gain clarity, the procurement standards will emerge as will data integration standards.

One of the more challenging issues will be associated with the data storage and usage. With the speed of AI;s arrival, there are growing pains that have not been felt yet. As long as there is an ethical commitment and transparency, there should be a way through.

V. Characteristics of a venture worth investing in

A strong K-12 EdTech venture should support clearly identifiable and beneficial characteristics.

Interactive Activity: Application

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References ➡

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