Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

How Should Schools Purchase Ed. Tech?

By Harold O. Levy — April 12, 2016 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School districts across the United States spend billions of dollars every year on educational technology—buying everything from desktop, laptop, and tablet computers to apps, online courses, e-books, videos, and software. Unfortunately, a sizable chunk of that money is being wasted on products that are overpriced and underperform, diverting school funding that could be better used to benefit students in other ways.

Ed tech has become a big business: In 2015, startups in the United States raised $1.85 billion from investors in almost 200 deals, according to EdSurge.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Schools are faced with a dizzying number of choices in ed-tech products, each pushed by salespeople who claim that whatever they are selling is better than what their competitors are offering. The New York Times recently reported that “there are more than 3,900 math and reading apps, classroom-management systems, and other software services for schools in the United States.”

The sad truth is that schools are notoriously bad at picking ed tech that will actually help them teach. As a former New York City schools chancellor, I am one of the few people who have been on both the buying and the selling side, so I know of what I speak. Too many school districts buy ed-tech products on the basis of good marketing rather than careful analysis—the way a child is attracted to the hot toy of the Christmas season.

At this year’s SXSWedu Expo, a new nonprofit startup called the Technology for Education Consortium (TEC), for which I serve as chairman of the board, was announced. It was created to help districts work together to get the most value for every dollar they spend on ed tech and buy the most appropriate products.

Funded with a $750,000 seed grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, TEC has already brought together about 100 districts to share ed-tech purchasing knowledge, at no charge to the districts. TEC supports transparency, efficiency, and collaboration among school districts to improve ed-tech buying policies and decisions. (It is preliminarily funded by foundation grants and may ultimately charge member districts a nominal sum to support its work.)

The sad truth is that schools are notoriously bad at picking ed tech that will actually help them teach.

TEC will enable district leaders to share ed-tech hardware and software contracts so that all districts can benefit from the best terms a vendor offers. TEC will also fund third-party studies to identify which ed-tech products deliver the best results at the best prices. This will enable school districts—including those that are financially strapped, small and rural, or serving low-income students—to comparison-shop, learn from each other, identify implementation issues, and negotiate better contracts. My vision is for TEC to make available ed-tech contracts—and implementation issues—to all participating member districts to finally bring transparency to this industry.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, where I serve as the executive director, supports ed tech that is effective in expanding educational opportunities for outstanding low-income students. And we know that ed tech is an important tool for all students in our multimedia world.

The vast majority of the ed-tech startups that have proliferated over the last few years haven’t lasted. That often happens with companies in new industries. But some ed tech has been shown to work very well. There are language-learning programs that have had amazing success. And numerous learning-management systems provide simple ways for students to advance at their own speed. Resources, like those that appear on the carefully curated website Edutopia, are nothing short of visionary. And some local school districts, such as Houston, that are starting to purchase digital textbooks have implemented rating programs to winnow the plethora of offerings to something more manageable. The federal government has also gotten into the act, with the appointment of its first adviser to focus on helping schools use open-source ed tech.

Schools have come a long way from the days when filmstrips and movies were the only ed tech around, and when students spent most of their time in class listening to teachers, copying material from a blackboard, reading from textbooks, and scribbling in their loose-leaf notebooks.

By upgrading the ed-tech purchasing practices in school districts so that they can share knowledge with each other, members of TEC will be taking an important step that will benefit students and save money at the same time.

A version of this article appeared in the April 13, 2016 edition of Education Week as How Should Schools Purchase Technology for the Classroom?

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Unlocking the Full Power of Fall MAP Growth Data
Maximize NWEA MAP Growth data this fall! Join our webinar to discover strategies for driving student growth and improving instruction.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How to Teach Digital & Media Literacy in the Age of AI
Join this free event to dig into crucial questions about how to help students build a foundation of digital literacy.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Webinar
Taking Action: Three Keys to an Effective Multitiered System to Supports
Join renowned intervention experts, Dr. Luis Cruz and Mike Mattos for a webinar on the 3 essential steps to MTSS success.
Content provided by Solution Tree

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A What Should School Administrators Wear to Work? A Superintendent’s Style Tips
Melanie Kay-Wyatt describes her wardrobe as professional, comfortable, and colorful.
3 min read
Melanie Kay-Wyatt stands for a portrait inside Alexandria City High School on Sept. 9, 2024 in Alexandria, Va. Kay-Wyatt serves as superintendent for Alexandria City Public Schools.
Melanie Kay-Wyatt, the superintendent for the Alexandria, Va., school district, stands for a portrait inside Alexandria City High School on Sept. 9, 2024. She considers her professional style to be an important part of how she presents herself in her role.
Maansi Srivastava for Education Week
School & District Management How School Leaders Can Learn to 'Disagree Better'
Leaders can’t avoid conflict. But they can learn to manage it more effectively.
3 min read
School & District Management Opinion 3 Ways School Leaders Can Build Collective Understanding
Initiatives will fail without school staff being included in these key conversations.
5 min read
Screenshot 2024 09 07 at 11.41.23 AM
Canva
School & District Management Has Superintendent Turnover Gotten Any Better? What New Data Show
See three key findings from an analysis of the 500 largest school districts.
4 min read
Photo of man using revolving door.
OJO Images