Imagine being a district leader tasked with selecting the ideal educational technology tools from a sea of thousands of options. The stakes are high: the right choice can transform classrooms, while the wrong choice can waste valuable resources. How do you decide?
At the center of this challenge is understanding how districts approach their educational technology procurement decisions. In 2022, the Decision Laboratory (TDL), an applied behavioral sciences research and innovation company, interviewed and surveyed more than 225 educational technology decision makers in K-12 school districts in the United States. Based on the data, TDL mapped out the educational technology acquisition process, including multiple steps these decision makers cited. The research revealed that complex structural and behavioral barriers influence purchasing decisions within a district. To better understand this issue, let's examine the four key stages of the procurement process, what each stage entails, potential barriers to success, and tangible solutions districts can leverage to overcome those barriers.
1. Needfind: Identify educational technology needs
In the initial “needs finding” stage, the district identifies a specific need for an educational technology product. Typically, this begins with the district analyzing the gap between its existing educational technology and identified teaching and learning needs. After articulating what is needed, district decision makers conduct market research to see what products are on the market, often searching online, attending conferences, or asking peer districts.
One concern that arises during the needs-finding stage is the needs assessment itself: Are districts critically examining their existing products and how they might help meet identified needs? Districts often have further educational technology products than is optimal and would be better if the number of products they have were reduced. Another barrier is limited awareness among decision makers about the full range of products available and the quality of potential solutions.
To overcome these challenges, districts can use engagement data from existing products to determine which tools are redundant or underutilized. Additionally, feedback from teachers and students can provide insight into the effectiveness of current tools and identify gaps in the current educational technology stack. Additionally, educator networks can be a way to expand market research, and professional organizations host conferences with exhibit halls that provide decision makers with opportunities to connect directly with providers of educational technology products, such as at the conference annual ISTE.
2. Evaluate: evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the product
During the evaluation stage, districts review potential educational technology solutions and evaluate their ability to meet identified needs. This includes narrowing down a short list of potential products to review, ensuring that the products meet essential technical, privacy, and integration requirements, reviewing that they fit the needs identified in the needs finding stage, and determining core users.
Potential barriers that arise during this stage may include choice overload, ambiguous assessment criteria established by the district that prevent easy assessment, non-standardized assessments, and confirmation bias, which occurs when district leaders and teachers favor product providers. with which they are already familiar, thus avoiding preventing them from searching for other potentially better options.
When evaluating potential solutions, decision makers should reference relevant curriculum and district or state standards to ensure alignment and best fit with student learning outcomes. Additionally, decision makers can include multiple viewpoints, such as curriculum leaders, instructional coaches, and classroom teachers, in the evaluation process to provide different perspectives. Evaluation frameworks (e.g. the edtech-product-selection” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>Teacher-Ready Assessment Toolthat focuses on usability for teachers, can help standardize the evaluation process or provide a common starting point for evaluation discussions.
Validated information from trusted third-party sources illuminates key areas to consider when exploring and examining new tools. He Educational technology Index provides validated information on quality markers such as alignments, badges, and certifications on edtech accessibility, effectiveness, interoperability, privacy, and usability to help decision makers find the right edtech products for their schools.
3. Pilot: Test products and collect feedback
The pilot stage involves a deeper examination of a short list of products through demonstrations, program samples, and pilot programs implemented in real classrooms. This stage is crucial to collect first-hand feedback from the end users (students and teachers) who will ultimately use the tool.
Major barriers during this stage include a lack of enough time to adequately test programs, unstructured methods for collecting feedback, and zero-risk bias, where districts are hesitant to discontinue a program after initial testing. This often leads to the continuation of suboptimal programs due to the sunk cost fallacy, where districts continue with an educational technology solution simply because of previous investments of time and resources.
To mitigate these challenges, districts could take a more systematic approach to collecting and analyzing feedback from pilot programs. This may involve structured surveys, interviews, and observation techniques that provide clear, actionable data. For situations where a full pilot program is not feasible, decision makers should ensure that product demonstrations are consistent across different tools to allow for fair comparisons.
4. Purchasing: Establish standardized procurement processes
This final stage involves rigorous research of an educational technology product before its purchase and widespread implementation across all schools in the district. Challenges during this phase often arise from inadequate evaluation processes and the influence of non-essential factors on the final decision. Once a decision is made about which product to purchase, additional barriers may include groupthink, lack of buy-in from key stakeholders, or resistance to change.
To improve decision making, districts should develop a standardized procurement process and use a detailed product evaluation rubric. This ensures that decisions are consistent and based on clearly defined criteria. Additionally, fostering strong collaborations with educational technology providers can help tailor professional development programs for teachers, ensuring they are well prepared to integrate new technologies into their classrooms effectively.
Ultimately, navigating the educational technology acquisition process requires a systematic, evidence-based approach to ensure the selection and implementation of high-quality products, and expanding the understanding of the educational technology acquisition process can reveal opportunities to improve making decisions along the way. The four key stages of the procurement process, from identifying needs to making the final purchasing decision, highlight the importance of thorough evaluation, stakeholder engagement and strategic decision making. By leveraging the strategies and resources detailed in this article, district leaders can address some common barriers they experience and adopt high-quality products.
