The HEART Education Technology (edtech) Topic Guide explores the evidence on relationships between the use of edtech in education, and learning outcomes. It offers recommendations to support UK Department for International Development (DFID) advisers to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of edtech programmes. This video includes interviews with the lead author of the Topic Guide Tom Power, a Senior Lecturer in Education and International Development at the Open University; Emily Todd, an Education Adviser at DFID and Senior DFID Education Adviser, Sally Gear.
Tom defines edtech, highlights the main points of the Guide, explains the evidence gaps that prompted it and talks about unexpected findings. Emily goes on to explain why the Guide was needed and how it may be used in the DFID context. Sally talks about the Department’s approach to Education Technology and its programmes. She also explains how the Topic Guide will be useful for building the evidence base around edtech.
The guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question:
What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes?
It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured.
The hashtag #Edtech4dev can be used to join in the conversation with others who have accessed the guide. Relevant twitter accounts include:
- HEART – @HEART_RES
- Emily Todd – @DFID_edtech
- Tom Power – @25Tom
- DFID – @DFID_UK
