January 30, 2024
WestEd works at the intersection of education and technology to improve outcomes for all learners. This Spotlight presents research and resources to inform education leaders’ decision-making around using technology as a tool for enhanced teaching and learning.
Check out our recent Learning & Technology E-Bulletin for more resources.
Promising Outcomes for a Digital Learning Program
As digital learning programs continue to rise in popularity to address students’ learning recovery and narrow math achievement gaps, it is crucial for educators to understand the long-term efficacy of such programs through evidence-based research.
A recent WestEd study examined the impacts of a widely used formative assessment platform, ASSISTments, which aids middle school students’ learning in math.
“The long-term results suggest that edtech programs that support teachers in using data to drive instruction and support students’ independent practice can help generate effective loops of instructional practices that can prepare students better for future learning,” says Dr. Mingyu Feng, Principal Investigator and Research Director for Learning and Technology at WestEd.
Leveraging Technology to Support Student Learning
REL Northwest is leading the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program working group on Leveraging Technology to Support Student Learning. In collaboration with the nine other RELs, REL Northwest is producing a framework to help district leaders as they adopt, use, and monitor the effectiveness of technology in their schools.
The following REL Northwest blog posts offer useful, evidence-based guidance:
- Ten Questions to Ask Families to Help Close the Digital Divide
- Key Questions for District Leaders Seeking Effective Technology Use
- Technology-Enhanced Learning: Using Communication and Collaboration Tools
- Personalizing Technology-Enhanced Learning
- Promoting Self-Regulated Learning with Technology
Developing the Value Add of Technology on Teaching Framework
For more than a decade, researchers have been calling for a shift from focusing on the adoption of technological tools in the classroom to focusing on how to leverage technology in teaching in order to advance student learning, a concept referred to as “technology-enabled instruction.” Yet there are few materials serving K–12 educators that are explicitly aimed at facilitating technology-enabled instruction. Typically, materials focus either on instruction or on technology integration rather than on both.
This paper documents the development of one resource that aims to fill this gap—the Value Add of Technology on Teaching (VATT) Framework. Written primarily for school and district leaders, the paper details the reasons why the VATT Framework was developed, the process through which the VATT Framework was conceived and conceptualized, and how various interest holders were engaged in different elements of this process.
Download The Need for and Development of the “Value Add of Technology on Teaching Framework.
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