The EdTech Genome Project aims to map which education technology tools are suited for various implementation contexts and why. It will do this by identifying key contextual variables that influence edtech success, collecting data on implementations, and analyzing the data to understand patterns. A diverse group of participants from education, research, industry and philanthropy will collaborate to select 10 important contextual variables to study, define them, design measures, and analyze data to develop an implementation framework to guide educators' edtech decisions. The goal is to improve edtech selection, implementation, and outcomes to better serve students.

1. The EdTech Genome Project
A sector-wide effort tounderstand why education technology performs
differently in various contexts
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2. Our schools have been hit by atechnological
explosion they were not readyfor.
In many ways, they’re still NOT
READY.
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3. Every year, nearly14,000 school districts spend more than
$13.2 billion (and growing) on 6,000+ edtech tools.
Thedecision makers (administrators and teachers)who purchase
these tools largely rely on personal networks and internet searchesto
decide how tospend their edtechbudgets.
Thisis aninefficient, fragmented way for educatorsto spend
so muchtime and money,and it leads toenormouswaste.
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4. …is spent on tools that are a GOODFIT
and IMPLEMENTED CORRECTLY.
15%
…is spent on tools that could be a GOOD
FIT but are NOTIMPLEMENTED
CORRECTLY.
30%
…is spent on tools that are DOOMED
TO FAIL because they are a POORFIT.
55%
In multiple surveys of thousands of educators, the view from the
groundis that edtechpurchasingandimplementationare a mess:
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5. 5
Educators estimate more than 85% of our $13.2B
edtech investment is wasted every year.

6. Dataabout this problem is finallybeing discovered and reported.
Unfortunately, there are
no easy answers. 6

7. Why are students and educators not using the
technologies purchased for them?
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8. As a result, well-intentionededucators (administrators andteachers)
often:
select ill-fitting products; and or
are unable to implement products properly.
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2
The root cause appearsto be that educatorslackaccessto
informationabout how edtech tools performin different
contexts, and why.
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9. 9
Every edtech decision-maker wouldbenefit from
accessing the wisdom,experiences, and
perspectives of peers in similar contexts.

10. Yet no educator is in a position to make that
level of documentation andsharing a reality.
Economists callthis a
“collectiveaction”problem.
The Jefferson EducationExchangehas been
exploringthis since the first EdTech Efficacy
Research Symposium in 2017.
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11. 11
First EdTech Efficacy Research
Academic Symposium
• Convenednearly 300leading investors, academics,educators,
researchers, philanthropists,and entrepreneurs.
• Tencross-functionalparticipantworking groups,eachsupported by
a professional researcher, presented white papers at the
Symposium.

12. 12
First EdTech Efficacy Research
Academic Symposium
• Thelackof contextuallyrelevant informationaboutedtech
implementations is ahuge “collectiveaction”problem.
• Everyoneagrees onwhosefaultitis.
• “Somebody”needs to lead.
Astrong consensusemerged:

13. The key takeawayfrom the Symposium:
“Somebody” needs to tackle these collective
action problems or nothing will improve.
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14. 14

15. The Jefferson Education Exchange
has stepped forwardto be
“the somebody” to facilitate the collectivetacklingof this
problem.
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16. The missionof the Jefferson Education Exchange is to help educators tomake
better-informed decisions about educationtechnology.
The Jefferson Education Exchange is structured as a public charity that is
supported exclusivelyby grants,philanthropy, and support froma growing list of
funders including the Universityof VirginiaCurry School of Education, Strada
Education Network, Billand Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation
of New York, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
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17. What does it mean
to “Map The EdTech
Genome”?
• Throughresearch andcollaboration,we candecode which
implementationcontextsaresuited for whichedtechtools,andwhy.
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• For a first step,theJefferson EducationExchange’s research teamatthe
University ofVirginia haveidentified morethan70 contextualvariables
thatmaybe associatedwithedtechimplementationsuccessor failure.
This list of 70+variables mustbewinnowedinto amanageablepackage
for practitioners andschoolsystems.
• Collaboratively,across-sectionof educationpractitioners, experts, and
stakeholders must decidewhichcontextualvariables are “most
important”whenit comesto defining acontext for edtech
implementation.This includes achievingconsensuson measurement
instruments anddefinitions foreachvariable.

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The EdTech GenomeProject
Properusage of edtechtools
increasessharplyas we
collectivelylearnhowtobetter
select andimplementeach
product.
Billions of dollarsaresaved and
millionsof instructionalhours
arerecovered.
IMPACT
Educatorsuse dataandanalysis toincrease
qualityoftoolselection and toimplement
thosewell-selectedselected toolsmore
effectively.
Industryuses dataandanalysis tobetter
understandtheconditions thatdrive
success and failureof their
implementations.
CONNECT&ANALYZE
Createandtestmethodologies
tosupporteducatorsandto incentivize
themtoshareinformationabouttheir
implementations,atscale.
Build “Exchange” platformthatallows
decision-makerstoaccess dataand
analysis aboutedtechimplementations
nationwide.
DESIGN&COLLECT
Researchers,practitioners,stakeholders,and
expertscollaboratetodecide which “edtech
implementationvariables”should be studied
first.
Adozenworkingand technical groupsbuild
consensus onhow bestto define andmeasure
each variablein thefield.
DISCOVER& DEFINE

19. Imaginetwoschoolsthat are
demographically identical.
Why does one implementan edtech tool
successfully, while the other fails?
School A School B
Implementsedtechtool
SUCCESSFULLY!
FAILSto implement the
sameedtech tool
successfully.
Which variablesare different in the school
that succeeds?
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20. School A School B
Maybe the teachers in School A were more
involved in the purchasing decision, and felt
more ownership over the implementation.
Maybe School B overloaded its teachers
with too many new tools or practices in the
same quarter.
Maybe School A uses a learning management
system (LMS) and student information
system (SIS) that integrates with the edtech
tool.
Maybe School B had no way to
measure the outcome this new tool
was working to improve.
Maybe the students in School A have
more access to broadband-enabled
devices after school.
Maybe School B was trying to
replace a tool that its teachers
really liked.
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21. JeffersonEducation Exchange’sresearch
team hasidentified more than 70 contextual
variables that may be associated with edtech
implementation success.
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22. Stakeholders, practitioners, and experts will participate as members of
the GenomeSteering Committee, Advisory Board, Variable Working
Groups, or IndustryCouncil:
• Selecting anddefining ten contextualvariablesassociatedwith edtech
implementationsuccess
• Identifying,modifying,orcreating measurementinstrumentsforeachvariable
• Achieving cross-sectorconsensusforvariabledefinitionsandmeasures
Who will be
involved in The
EdTech Genome
Project?
AfulldraftEdTechImplementationFrameworkwillbereadyforpublicationinDecember2020. 22

23. JeffersonEducation Exchange/ UniversityofVirginia CurrySchool of
Education ResearchTeam:
• Performingacademicliteraturereview (in progress)
• Conductingoriginalfield researchwithschoolsnationwide(in progress)
• OrganizingandsupportingEdTechGenomeProjectparticipantsandnational
stakeholders
Who will be
involved in The
EdTech Genome
Project?
AfulldraftEdTechImplementationFrameworkwillbereadyforpublicationinDecember2020. 23

24. We are inviting a
diverse group of
somebodies to
participate:
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Stakeholders AdvisoryBoard IndustryCouncil
Dedicated
ProjectManager
Universityof Virginia
ResearchTeam
SteeringCommittee
WorkingGroups for10SelectedVariables
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

25. Contact Dan Brown
Director of National Engagement,
Jefferson Education Exchange
dan@jexuva.org
Questions or ideas?
Let’s talk!
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