The Problem(s) with Choosing EdTech Tools for Your School

If you have ever been the lead teacher, technologist, or administrator tasked with finding the right tech tool for your school or district, here are a few scenarios that might seem familiar:

  1. You walk through the flashy fun exhibit hall at an edtech conference. The vendors are friendly, helpful, and give you plenty of hands-on opportunities with their product. You leave with handouts, email addresses, and lots of hope. But when you get back to school, you feel overwhelmed as you flip through all of the information. What’s next?
  2. As you look for a solution to your school/district’s particular situation, it is easy to go with one of the big companies with a big reputation. They might be exactly what you need. But they might also have a big price tag, inattentive product support, and updates or interface design changes that come without warning. Well, it is what everyone else is doing, right?
  3. Vocal teachers have always been the beneficiaries of both budgetary and time considerations. (Confession: As a classroom teacher, I worked the squeaky wheel angle a LOT.) Administrators and technologists can learn a lot from tech-leader teachers, but it can also be difficult to be sure that one particular problem actually requires extra resources. Is that vocal teacher’s need a school-wide need? Can existing tools and platforms – used in a new creative way – fill the need without pulling from a tight budget?
If the tool you are looking for is a significant investment and will require significant support, you are likely willing to dig deeper than those initial temptations. There is help out there:
  • Product reviews can help, but the sampling of reviewers likely do not include administrators from schools that fit your school’s profile. The reviews tend to be focused on that particular user’s experience rather than on institutional roll-out and impact. Also, the reviews are focused on the tool itself, not the need you are looking to fulfill by using that tool.
  • Change management consultants are also helpful, but technology tools are just one element of broader changes. When your need is more particular, their 30,000 foot view is not focused where you need it.
  • Reach out to your PLN (personal/professional learning network) of educators – via Twitter, Facebook Groups, and listservs – to get tool recommendations. Again, although their schools might be similar, their need and budget are not likely an exact match.
  • Put out a call for proposals to the companies that you have heard about through your PLN and your own research. Comb through the proposals on your own or with a small team from your school. This will take time and resources, so be ready to block it out from other responsibilities and roles.
What school and district technology leaders really need is a process that allows them to analyze their needs, survey all companies – big and small – for the right tool fit their particular issues. At the same time, that process needs to be as efficient as it is accurate. The work of education is always on a tight schedule and a tight budget. EdSurge’s Concierge is one option I’ve seen that helps solve a lot of these problems. It is free and anonymous. That means that the companies they match you with do not know your identity or your school’s identity until you are serious and ready to make contact with those companies. The only money you’ll spend is on the tool if you are convinced it is the right match for you. Here’s the process:

  1. 45-minute diagnostic call: They’ll ask you about your need, the solutions you’ve tried, existing tools and infrastructure, and more.
  2. Research: The folks at EdSurge will use their broad network of educators and edtech companies to do the research you don’t have time to do. The key here is that they level the playing field between those big companies everyone knows about, and the small ones that might have the right solution you’ve never heard of.
  3. Your vetted list: Soon you’ll receive your customized list with specific information from each company about how they can and will meet your particular need. EdSurge will have shared your personalized needs with each company without revealing your identity. For you, this means you get all the inside information with none of the sales pressure.
  4. You make the call: EdSurge will put you in touch with only the companies you select. Then they will step back and let you do what is right for you.
Choosing the right technology tool is a big decision. Will the tool do what you need it to do? Will it fit in your budget? Will the company support your integration and professional learning needs? Give Concierge a try next time you are looking for a solution to your blended learning, OER curation, personalized learning, formative assessment, or learning management system needs.
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Note: This is a sponsored post. While there was compensation for this post, no product will ever be highlighted on this blog unless the author believes in its value to educators.
Problem image source: Chris Potter on Flickr
Concierge image source: EdSurge

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