Two organizations, in a new report, are urging districts and private-sector entrepreneurs to work more closely together to streamline and improve the process through which school systems choose and buy educational technology.
In their report, Digital Promise, a nonprofit authorized by Congress to support education innovation, and IDEO, a design firm, offer suggestions on how districts can use procurement to bring more innovative and more useful technology products to schools.
One recommendation is to make the process more transparent, and simplify it: Explaining the process to school officials, vendors, and the public through maps, case studies, and other means would increase their understanding of how products enter K-12 systems. The authors also suggest that schools become more involved in working with education-technology entrepreneurs.
