With a new school year now in full swing, educators are in a bind. They want to implement innovative edtech tools in the classroom but don’t necessarily have the time to research and evaluate solutions before procurement and classroom implementation.
Enter the concept of curated online marketplaces — a potential game-changer in the edtech landscape. These platforms aim to streamline the discovery and evaluation process, putting efficient search capabilities at educators’ fingertips.
To explore this further, EdSurge spoke with Shannie Yeoh, Senior Manager, EdTech Partnerships, Worldwide Public Sector, at Amazon Web Services (AWS). After leading business strategy transformation efforts for systems integrators, Yeoh joined AWS two years ago and now manages go-to-market strategies for edtech partners, helping them drive both growth and revenue. Yeoh shares her excitement about enabling educators to have easy access to tools they need to simplify their day-to-day tasks while creating a stimulating learning environment.
EdSurge: What challenges do you think educators face when they’re researching, evaluating and procuring the right edtech tools?
Yeoh: Finding the right edtech tools, especially in the current environment, is never easy. A recent study from LearnPlatform by Instructure found that school districts access an average of 2,739 distinct tech tools annually. On top of that, an MDR study also shows that teachers are spending an average of seven hours per week just looking for instructional resources to use in classrooms!
There are three main challenges we hear from educators today. One is the rapid pace of innovation in this space. Security and privacy concerns are also a major hurdle since tools must protect the student data and comply with the relevant regulations. Then, obviously, the budget is always a top concern. Finding high-quality, cost-effective solutions that demonstrate clear evidence of their impact is also very crucial.
How are online marketplaces changing the way that educators can discover and access edtech resources?
In the past, educators often had to rely on word of mouth, conferences and their own extensive research to even learn about the new edtech tools; it was a very scattered and fragmented process. But now, with centralized online marketplaces, educators can actually browse and explore a vast catalog of vetted, curated resources in one place.
On top of that, the ability for educators to read the reviews, comparing the different options side by side, has been incredibly valuable. It allows them to make much more informed decisions about what will work best for their students. The fact that many of these platforms, including the AWS Marketplace, also handle procurement and deployment makes the whole process so much easier.
What resources are available to help educators stay informed about emerging edtech trends, and how can those educators maximize their use?
First, I recommend tapping into information and insights available through online communities and professional organizations like ISTE and CoSN. We at AWS have worked closely with CoSN and the Council of Great City Schools to develop the generative AI readiness checklists. For higher education institutions, we have partnered with EDUCAUSE to create a similar checklist specific to colleges and universities.
I also encourage educators to use the EdTech Index in various ways. Teachers can check the Index before requesting products through the district approval process to identify trusted third-party validators. A district-level edtech specialist can use the “My List” feature to compare existing tools with teacher-requested ones that offer similar functionality, providing side-by-side comparisons of critical edtech information.
At the end of the day, staying informed and engaged with a tech landscape is vital, but it’s not just about keeping up. It’s about embracing these innovations and figuring out how to leverage them to drive meaningful, transformative change in education. I think that’s where all the true impact lies.
What emerging technologies or trends do you see as having the greatest potential to transform edtech in the next five years?
I think the first one would be personalized learning powered by generative AI. The ability to leverage AI-driven recommendations and seamless integrations with classroom management systems will allow us to create a truly personalized experience.
I’m also really bullish on the continued evolution of data-driven decision-making, empowering educators to make much more informed, evidence-based choices about the tools and approaches they use.
I’m also excited about the continued advancement of immersive technologies like augmented and virtual realities. These platforms have become more accessible and user-friendly, and I think the potential to create a truly engaging, contextualized educational experience will skyrocket. Imagine being able to explore the surface of Mars or witness historical events firsthand! That level of interactivity and depth of learning is unparalleled.
I think underpinning all this is the growing emphasis on accessibility, equity and inclusivity in edtech. I believe that we’ll see a much stronger focus on designing the products and platforms that serve the needs of all learners regardless of their background and ability. Accessibility can no longer be an afterthought; it has to be a core design principle.
How does AWS gather information about the impact of edtech tools and trends in the education sector, and how does that inform your approach to supporting the edtech industry?
We place a huge emphasis on measuring the real-world impact of the edtech tools and solutions available on our platforms. Areas like chronic absenteeism, staffing shortages and mental health are the three key themes that we have been hearing about, and not just from our own customer base.
We also collaborate extensively with a wide range of industry partners to get a more holistic understanding of the tech landscape. We host regular CEO roundtables and community forums where we can learn directly from education leaders and industry stakeholders about the challenges they are facing and the emerging trends they are seeing.
Groups like HolonIQ provide us with invaluable market research and data that we use to inform our decisions. This comprehensive impact data are then fed directly back into edtech future offerings, allowing us to identify the most effective and transformative tech solutions and double down on what’s working or fix what’s not — really filling in the gaps in this marketplace. Our goal is to continuously evolve and expand our ed tech ecosystem to ensure educators have access to the cutting-edge resources they need to drive student success.
