Could the EdTech Certification System Become a New Tool for Educational Innovation?
콘
콘텐주
• Rapid growth in the edutech market has led to a growing need to prove the educational effectiveness of products. • EdTech certification system draws attention as new standard for evaluating educational value of products • Efforts are needed to ensure the reliability and fairness of the certification system. • Attention is focused on whether the certification system can serve as a catalyst for educational innovation.
As the edutech market, which is creating a new wind in the education sector, grows rapidly, proving the educational effectiveness of edutech products is emerging as an important task. In order for edutech products to establish themselves as innovative tools that improve the quality of education rather than simply a collection of technologies, a system that can verify their educational value is needed. In this context, the edutech certification system is gaining attention as a new evaluation standard.
The EdTech certification system comprehensively evaluates various aspects such as the educational effectiveness of the product, the appropriateness of the teaching and learning design, ethics, and equity to determine the educational value of EdTech products. This is similar to a teacher comprehensively evaluating not only students’ grades but also their learning attitudes, creativity, and cooperation. Representative examples include the effectiveness certification under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the United States, the teaching and learning design certification of Digital Promise, and the learning experience design certification of LXD Research.
There is growing consensus both inside and outside the education community about the need for an edutech certification system. Teachers need objective evaluation information to make the best choice among numerous edutech products. Edutech companies want to secure trust in the market by proving the educational excellence of their products. Education authorities are considering a quality management system to maximize the educational effects of introducing edutech.
However, not everyone has the same view on the EdTech certification system. Some people are concerned that the certification system may hinder the diversity and innovation of EdTech products. If the certification criteria are too uniform or biased toward specific educational theories, it may actually hinder the development of EdTech. In addition, the fact that the certification process is complicated and expensive is also a burden to EdTech companies.
In this situation, the question may be raised, “Isn’t an edutech product that hasn’t been certified a good product?” However, certification is not a criterion for judging the absolute value of an edutech product. Certification is only one means of objectively verifying the educational effectiveness of a product, and it is difficult to conclude that a product has no educational value just because it has not been certified. Rather, the important thing is to promote qualitative improvement of edutech products through the certification system and to move in a direction that can provide practical help to the educational field.
In order for the EdTech certification system to serve as a catalyst for educational innovation, several tasks must be addressed. First, it is important to secure the reliability and fairness of the certification system. To this end, the expertise and independence of the certification agency must be strengthened, and the transparency of the evaluation process must be increased. In addition, the certification criteria must be continuously improved so that they can reflect the needs of various educational stakeholders. In addition, it is necessary to establish an incentive system so that the certification system can induce voluntary participation of EdTech companies.
The EdTech certification system is still in its early stages and will take some time to become perfect. However, given that EdTech is a major driving force that will lead the future of education, the importance of the certification system is bound to grow. I hope that the EdTech certification system will serve as a compass that leads educational innovation beyond simply being a tool for evaluating products.
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