Impactful EdTech Rethinking the role of evidence in education businesses

@simonbreakspear www.simonbreakspear.com

Simon BreakspearFounder and CEO of LearnLabs!!Simon Breakspear is recognised internationally as a leading thinker on the future of learning and educational innovation. Simon is the founder and CEO of LearnLabs, a global learning strategy and design agency, that helps school, system, policy and business leaders design and deliver high-impact strategies to enable 21st Century learning at scale. He has worked with and spoken to leaders across Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Europe, Canada, Israel, Hong Kong and India. !!As a passionate educator and learning strategist, Simon works on systemic challenges in education reform and redesign. He also advises EdTech start-ups around the globe that are seeking to develop disruptive education models to improve the quality and equity of student learning. Simon holds a first class honours degree in Psychology, a Bachelor of Teaching, a MSc. in Comparative and International Education from the University of Oxford, and is a PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge. He was a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, and Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Oxford

www.simonbreakspear.com!www.learnlabs.com!www.zaya.org!

Rethink the role of Evidence

Why focus on impact evidence?

Why is user feedback

important but insufficient?

Scared Straight Programme

The Importance of Evidence of Impact

80 to 14,000

From good intentions to real impact.

“What is clear is that no technology has an impact on learning in its own right; rather its impact depends upon

the way in which it is used.” !

NESTA, 2012 “Decoding learning: The proof promise and potential of digital education.” p9

Michael Fullan!

Wrong Drivers for School reform

No one can do your thinking for you

Clarity Follows Activity

Why are you here?

Profitable Business or/and

Improve Learning or/and

Transform Learning

Extrac'ng*efficiencies*and*diminishing*returns*

Educa'onal*pioneers*design,*develop*and*prove*new*models.**

S"curve(1(Educa-on(1.0(

S"curve(2(Educa-on(2.0(

New*models*are*taken*to*scale**

Focus*of**LEARNSHIFT*

Learning*Outpu

ts*

Applied*Effort**

How far do you want to push learning?

Whose Problem are you solving

The one question to ask teachers: What time did you have lunch today?

What are the challenges !teachers face?

Stop ‘pitching’ and start listening

What are the top 2 concerns of a typical

school principal

#1. There is an OpportunityDo well by doing good.

‘Big’ For-Profit Education

“Who owns American public education? Until a decade ago, we might have answered: the public. Or the states. Or the local school boards.

Now, the likely answer is: the U.S. Department of Education. Or the Gates Foundation, which seems to own the U.S. Department of Education.

But there may be another answer (this is not a multiple-choice test, and there is more than one right answer): Pearson, the megalith corporation that produces curriculum, textbooks, tests, owns the company that accredits teachers (EdTPA), owns an online charter corporation (Connections Academy), and owns the GED.” Diane Ravitch

The critique heats up

Efficacy as an USP

Does learner impact really matter if the

client buys it? !

!

Do Well By Doing

Good

Sell

!

#2. ‘Double’ LeanEdTech start-ups are running two lean experiments at the same time. Iterating on a a business model and a learning model.

Business Model

Learning Model

Profitability !

Business Model !

User/Rev. Metrics !

!

Impact !

Learning Model !

Learning Metrics !

!

AND

The ‘Double’ Lean Start-up Approach

EdTech Business models can be

particularly difficult to crack

Apply Existing Education Evidence Base

+

‘Learning Models’ are as Complex as Business Models

What does this data tell us...? So What?

Using Data to Make decisions

#3. Know the target outcomes & metricsBe very clear on what outcomes you are trying to improve through solving your identified problem.

Cognitive!Interpersonal!Intrapersonal

21st Century Skills: 3 Domains

National Research Council (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century

Choose the 1 metric that matters

Learning

1. Describe the exact skill behaviour or mindset your product or service aims to improve.!!

2. Who is your target group?!!

3. Do you have a way of measuring the intended outcome?

Are you collecting this data?

#4. Apply what we already know about powerful learningFocus first on ALIGNMENT with the current evidence base on effective learning.

Design for Deep Learning

!

Under what conditions does learning flourish?

!

!

Designed for Deep learning

Learning by Design

Innovating Learning is a Design Science

Developing new ecosystems of learning

We know more about learning

than ever before

Design Principles

6 ELEMENTS 1.Student-owned

2.Growth-focused

3.Connected

4.Integrated

5.Applied

6.Collaborative !

OECD, Innovative Learning Environments Project

7 Principles 1. Learner have to be at the center of what happens in the classroom 2. Learning is a social practice & can’t happen alone 3. Emotions are an integral part of learning 4. Learners are different 5. Students need to be stretched, but not too much 6. Assessment should be for learning, not of learning 7. Learning needs to be connected across disciplines

How can the learning sciences inform the design of 21st century learning environments?

What is your learning model? What system is it functioning in?

Draw it.

What evidence have you built into this

design?

What other factors is the impact of your

product/service dependent on?

You need to build capacity

#5. Get on the path to generating evidence of educational impact

Do effective learning programs work like

Aspirin?

What Works to

What is working, for whom, when and

where Generalise through fit

Proof Or

Path

Evidence Journey