ISTE’s current CEO, Richard Culatt, who is slated to be at the helm of the new joint organization, spoke with EdSurge early last week about how this merger reflects the “infusion” of edtech in learning in a post-pandemic world. 

“Unfortunately, what has not come along with that is the thoughtful discipline and strategy for using [tech] in ways that improve learner engagement, close equity gaps, and improve inclusivity,” Culatt explained. 

During the chaos of fully remote learning, districts purchased edtech tools one by one with no long-term strategy. With that, an edtech tool sprawl began across many districts. The effects of this sprawl are only now becoming apparent, with district leaders suddenly realizing the steep costs in dollars and morale. 

Many tech tools are purchased to solve a single problem, resulting in siloed data, inefficiency, wasted funds, and a negative impact on student engagement.  In a 2022 survey, 72% of educators agreed that too many tech tools negatively impacted student engagement.  

As schools return to operating at a new normal and pandemic-padded school budgets deflate, districts are starting to take stock of the damage. Data warehouses that no one is really using. Learning tools with no transparency to the curriculum department. Parents are confused about all the different places to go for information. 

Some questions for consideration when evaluating your edtech systems:  

• Are your systems integrated and connected or in silos? 

• What impact does the system have on student and parent engagement? 

• Does the system solve more than one problem? Can it help you achieve multiple goals? 

• Does it provide useful data that is easily accessible to those who need it? 

• How does it help address equity gaps, inclusivity, or accessibility? 

OnCourse’s all-in-one approach gives districts a full suite of connected, data-rich systems that are designed to help student growth. Here are some of the ways OnCourse is developing technology for the future of education: 

• Increasing parent engagement with a native OnCourse Connect mobile app
• Striving to reach all students with WCAG 2.0 Accessibility Compliance in OnCourse Connect
• Using data to uncover inequities in district practices: [Video] How to Detect Disproportionality in Disciplinary Action
• Saving teachers an average of two hours per week with a connected SIS, Gradebook, and LMS 
• Helping districts improve rigor and alignment of assessments to raise state test scores
• [Webinar] How Educators Use Google with OnCourse LMS to improve engagement and save teachers time