Can AI-powered edtech help disrupt entrenched education disadvantage?
High-quality education technology (‘edtech’) can, in the right environment, improve outcomes for disadvantaged students – but only if it is well-designed, well-used and well-governed.
By 2025, more than 1 billion students globally are forecast as consumers of edtech.
There are many potential benefits to embracing these technologies, but the use of AI-enabled learning tools also raises important questions like how claims of effectiveness are scrutinised, and whether privacy and quality regulation is keeping pace with development.
At the same time, there is a learning chasm in Australia deepened by unequal access to digital technologies. It’s crucial that new tools enhance learning practices that uplift outcomes for disadvantaged students.
Professor Leslie Loble AM’s research shows how AI-powered edtech can help overcome entrenched education disadvantage – challenges which have proven resistant to policy and program efforts.
Australian students deserve the best quality edtech, proven to deliver learning progress, aligned with our curriculum standards, and meeting or exceeding expectations for learning outcomes and social equity.
Prof. Leslie Loble AM
Not all tools are equal: Bending the curve towards positive impact
The global market for AI and edtech applications is booming but Australian schools, educators and parents are largely flying blind when it comes to knowing whether these tools work, and do so safely.
Professor Loble’s report, Shaping AI and edtech to tackle Australia’s learning divide, assesses current evidence and critical issues on the benefits and risks of adopting these technologies.
Expanding evidence shows that high-quality edtech, when used in the right environment, can improve outcomes for disadvantaged students through better support for teachers, earlier diagnosis of learning needs and greater access to personalised learning.
Three key conditions must be met for optimum impact: the quality of the tools; their effective use and integration into teacher-led instruction; and the network of policies, institutions and incentives that shape this fast-growing market.
The report offers solutions across government, philanthropy and industry. Together, these solutions can establish Australia as a global leader in shaping edtech for widespread education benefit.
Shaping AI and edtech to tackle Australia’s learning divide
-
N/A
Report recommendations
Ten actions that will help ensure any edtech that is proposed for use within Australian educational settings meets the expectations of national education priorities, helps to close the learning and digital divide, and is assessed for its proven ability to lift outcomes for all students, especially those with complex needs.
Recommendations
Establish a national forum
An Australian Forum on Quality Digital Education can shape a strategic agenda and connect technology and equity.
Best practice showcase
Develop and showcase how to integrate edtech with teaching for students with disadvantage or complex needs.
Provide extra resources
Overcome the digital divide in disadvantaged schools with access to high quality tools linked to support and professional development.
Commission AERO expertise
The Australian Education Research Organisation can provide expertise on supporting teachers and lift student outcomes.
Set evidence standards
Include guidelines for evidence-based education interventions, including technology, in the upcoming quadrennial national school funding agreement.
Accelerate independent research
Investigate how learning tools impact learning progress and the features that amplify positive outcomes.
Invest in social benefit edtech
Investing in systems that meet high standards for evidence, efficacy, ethics, and equity can make Australia a world-leader.
Help users make informed choices
Create an accessible repository of trustworthy information on the quality of edtech tools for schools, education systems, and parents.
Set governance standards
Develop education-specific standards for design, data use, life cycle governance and accountability.
Pool data
Build public-private relationships to pool data and work together to solve education challenges.
A digital divide exists in our education system, with students from disadvantaged backgrounds suffering the consequences. The use of technology in our educational institutions offers an opportunity to close this gap, but only if it is well-designed, well-used and well-governed.
The Hon. Prof. Verity Firth
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Inclusion), UTS
This research was funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
