At LearnPlatform by Instructure, we develop software and conduct research to help expand safe, equitable, and cost effective access for all students to education technology. LearnPlatform addresses challenges associated with edtech management that districts have struggled with for many years. However, this solution category of a complete edtech effectiveness system for K12 education is unique, and is now critical infrastructure for school districts.

Part of our research work includes examining the rapid expansion of edtech solutions used in districts across the country. We found that districts, on average, were accessing over 500 tools in 2018. You can see a dramatic change in 2020 when districts shifted to virtual instruction. This increased the tools accessed in one month to over 1,300. What we are finding is that number is still increasing … as we maintained over 1,400 just last year. This is an astronomical number of tools for districts to try to manage.

As an edtech effectiveness system, LearnPlatform is helping to answer the questions that departments across the district are already asking, such as:

• Is this tool safe?
• Is it compliant with state and federal legislation?
• Do we have funding for this tool in place?
• Is this tool helping all students learn and grow?

LearnPlatform’s edtech effectiveness system empowers K-12 districts across the country to use evidence to inform instructional, budgetary and operational edtech decisions for more effective and more equitable learning environments.

Educators come to LearnPlatform as their district’s source of truth for edtech products. They can find clear communication from their district about which websites and applications are approved for use, as well as privacy information and curriculum guidance. Educators can sort tools by approval status, subject, grade level, or custom filters like accessibility functionality. 

On a Product page, teachers can see resources to deepen their product knowledge including screenshots and links from the vendor or additional resources the district provides, like data privacy agreements, sample lesson plans, or accessibility documentation.

Instructors can also search for an edtech product from the 15,000+ tools in our LearnCommunity Library, then submit a request through a centralized and customizable request form.

This submission will be visible to administrators on the management side of the platform where more detailed product information is housed. Here administrators can manage the products in their library, the requests coming in for new tools, the workflow notifications for actions or dates (e.g. new product requests or contract expiration dates), and the provider applications to execute documentation directly with vendors.

For the products that are in the library already, you can sort the tools by column and edit the product settings.

Here, districts are able to manage those approval statuses. We have automatic badges for our vendor partners and automatic tags for generalized subject and grade level. Districts can also create custom badges or tags for funding sources like Title 1 or use cases like identifying STEM resources.

In addition, contracts and costs can be managed through this page by adding license information, contract expiration dates,  and any other associated resources. These resources can be shared out with admin only, internally with educators like sample lesson plans, or publicly like data privacy agreements.

You can also share tools and specific commentary with LearnPlatform’s public facing library. This view can be linked or embedded in a district's website and provides parents with required information around what programs are being used in the classroom, what accessibility measures are in place, and what data is being collected.

To assist districts in discerning what personal identifying data is being collected and which tools are safe, the Privacy tab shows administrators what industry Watchdogs such as Common Sense Education, Future of Privacy Forum, 1EdTech, and others say about each tool.

The map provides visibility into privacy insights from other LearnPlatform users along with information from the Student Data Privacy Consortium on a product's data privacy agreements with other districts and 1EdTech’s trusted ed app review, alerting districts to FERPA compliance, COPPA compliance, and if a tool is intended for use by children under the age of 13.

When requests come in for new products, administrators can view the form submitted by educators, assign reviewers, and compile feedback from multiple departments like a curriculum team or a privacy and security team.

That privacy and security team can then utilize the privacy hub for baseline data before executing a data privacy agreement or other forms with vendors in Provider Applications. Provider Applications allows districts to create a template document and send it out to as many vendors as needed with LearnPlatform’s built in vendor contact information.

Finally, within the Analysis section, LearnPlatform can help you know if your approved edtech resources are being used as intended and are having the desired impact on student outcomes.

From the Inventory Dashboard, you can view metrics on product usage gathered through the browser extension or iOS app and aggregated for review. The extension gathers information on any edtech tool accessed at the classroom level, including the invisible edtech that teachers and students may be sourcing on their own. District Admin can see the most used to least used tools, if they are in the district library, and even apply filters to this data.

LearnPlatform's analysis answers questions beyond just “Is this edtech tool being used?” with our Rapid Cycle Evaluations. In partnership with our LearnPlatform research team, Districts can run Fidelity, Cost, and Learning Outcomes analysis in much less time than is typically required to run traditional ESSA levels I, II, or III evaluations. 

By including vendor-provided usage information, cost information, independent assessment data, and their choice of SIS data, admins gain insights into the tool's efficacy and determine the specific demographics that are most positively impacted. Let’s take a look at a completed RCE report:

In this report, we can see usage groups and the fidelity of usage against a recommended dosage. Administrators can even analyze their edtech use across any student population such as grade level or free and reduced price lunch. 

Rapid Cycle Evaluations will show the general effect size for students who use the product and provide detailed analyzes. With these analyzes administrators can determine what to do next such as providing additional professional development, reducing or adding to a product's license, replacing an edtech product, or doing additional research.

LearnPlatform empowers K-12 districts to manage their entire edtech ecosystem from a single platform giving them critical tools to create a safer, more effective, and equitable learning environment for all their students.

You can create workflows that trigger product vetting processes, which can include a variety of steps and conditions for assigning reviewers, changing tags, changing statuses, sending email notifications, and other automated actions. Additionally, you can create workflows that trigger actions based on dates associated with those products, such as tag changes, status changes, or sending email notifications.

Date-triggered workflows are useful for situations such as expiring contract or DPA notifications, reminding admins to request feedback six months after implementation, or removing a new tag or automatically sending a product into an annual review status.