Pina

Chris Pina
CST 300 Writing Lab
Brian Robertson
09/13/2015

Educating In the Digital Age: The Future of Education Technology

On March 8, 2011 President Obama stood in front of a small crowd at TechBoston

Academy in Boston, Massachusetts and delivered a speech on the future of technology in the

classroom. Mr. Obama called for investments in educational technology that will help create

digital tutors that are as effective as personal tutors, and educational software thats as

compelling as the best video game (The White House, 2011). The Presidents words were a

challenge to the technology industry, but also an endorsement of the impact it could have on the

way that America learns in the 21st century. Education technology generally refers to the use of

technology when teaching students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade (K-12 education).

However, technology has flooded every level of our educational system and the definition of

education technology has expanded to include the integration of technology in any learning

arena. This expansion has led to a tremendous demand for anyone in the technology field that

can use their expertise to improve how we educate. Demand for education technology has risen

steadily for the past ten years and exponentially since Mr. Obamas speech in 2011. Parents,

educators and school districts across the country have embraced technology and companies like

Khan Academy have used cutting edge practices to take advantage of that demand; with plenty

of room for growth, students of computer science should give serious consideration to the

industry of education technology as they plan their careers.

Education technology as an industry is not exactly a new development. For decades

educators have searched for effective methods of integrating technology into their classrooms as

a way to engage students and parents. In recent years, technology has become much more
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important for teachers striving to meet the needs of increasingly digital students. Kids in the

information age have grown up with electronic devices always within reach, which has impacted

how they learn. According to Granic, Lobel, and Engels (2014), Instead of learning through

explicit linear instruction (e.g., by reading a manual first), many children and youth problem-

solve through trial and error, recursively collecting evidence which they test through

experimentation (p. 69). These students will require much more than a lesson on the whiteboard

to be successful and teaching methods will need to adapt to these students new learning styles.

Technology will have to be integrated into every aspect of the classroom in order to engage

digital students who require a hands-on experience to learn. Computer scientists will need to

work with educators to develop the teaching tools needed to educate in the digital age.

Educators are searching for innovative ways to stay connected to their technology savvy

students beyond the classroom. As a result, learning management systems (LMS), a trend that

began in higher education, have become progressively popular in K-12 education. Learning

management systems are used to deliver teaching materials to students online. LMS are

beneficial to teachers who can post assignments, parents who can become active participants

from home and students who can interact with their teachers as well as other students whenever

they need. The popularity of these systems will grow as teachers witness the positive impact

LMS have on their students. As noted by Gartner (2011), in a survey of teacher satisfaction 62%

of teachers agreed that learning management systems allowed them to be more effective in the

classroom (p. 19). Teacher satisfaction will lead to demand for learning management systems;

this will present a great opportunity for those who can develop these vast online environments.

Outside of the traditional school setting game developers have become key players in the

field of education technology as games are increasingly used to improve student achievement.
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Game makers are rushing to meet demand and research shows that students will benefit from

their work. A recent study by Shin, Sutherland, Norris & Soloway (2012) concluded that

technology-based games have a positive impact on students trying to learn math regardless of the

students skill level (p. 558). Furthermore, the results of the study suggested that technology

based games were more effective and had a greater impact on student learning than paper-based

games (Shin et al., 2012, p. 558). As researchers continue to demonstrate the positive impact

games have on learning, teachers have been more than willing to implement technology-based

games in their classroom. For example, John Fallon, a Fairfield Country Day School teacher

from Connecticut, is using an alternate reality game that he developed to teach The Odyssey to

junior high students (Shapiro, Tekinba, Schwartz & Darvasi, n.d., p. 33). The success of

innovative teachers like Fallon will open doors for game developers into the field of education.

With demand from teachers and parents for better technology at an all time high, the

industry of education technology has flourished. Innovative companies with talented software

developers and computer scientists have taken advantage of demand and have revolutionized the

field of education in the process. The companies leading the way in the industry deal with all

aspects of education technology. For example, Panorama Education is transforming the way

schools are evaluated. The companys goal is to gauge the performance of schools and educators

by gathering student, parent and teacher data through innovative scientific surveys designed by

the companys Yale educated founders (Hyder, 2014). In a different sector of education

technology, Edmondo is one of the leaders in learning management systems (LMS). According

to Hyder (2014), two former public school employees seeking to provide better learning

management systems than those used by their former employers founded the company in 1998.

Edmondo has grown quickly; the startup has raised $88 million of venture funding (Hyder,
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2014). GlassLab is leading the way in game development by building games that engage and

educate students. As Strauss (2015) describes, GlassLab is a non-profit organization formed with

support from giants like Electronic Arts (EA) and Pearson, the worlds largest education

company. Based out of EA headquarters, GlassLab is redesigning popular games like SimCity

specifically for use in the classroom and is working with educators to develop lesson plans for

their games (Strauss, 2015). All of these companies are transforming the world of education.

Collaboration between educators and computer scientists will redefine how kids learn and

schools operate.

The list of successful companies in education technology is growing fast. Perhaps one of

the most notable is Khan Academy, described on its website as a non-profit that provides

instructional videos, practice exercises and a learning dashboard to anyone seeking to learn

through online instruction (About, n.d.). Users of Khan Academy can log onto the site using a

free account and watch instructional videos covering a vast number of topics from over seven

content areas including math, science, computer programming and economics (About, n.d.).

The company, located in Mountain View, California, has over 80 employees and 16 interns

working to transform the way people learn (Meet the team, n.d.). According to an article about

the company by Thompson (2011), Khan Academy began when founder Salman Khan started

tutoring his niece in math from across the country using Yahoo messenger. The article describes

how Khans niece soon asked him to record the lessons so that she could refer to them whenever

she needed. It wasnt long before thousands were watching the videos on YouTube, and in 2008

Salman founded his non-profit based that success (Thompson, 2011). The company has evolved

rapidly since then. In 2010 Khan Academy hired talented software engineers and designers to

develop the student dashboard, a popular feature that allows teachers and parents to track student
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progress (Thompson, 2011). The dashboard is one of Khan Academys more popular product

features since it allows teachers and parents to pinpoint specific concepts that students may be

struggling with. Armed with this data educators can adjust their lessons accordingly. Innovative

features like the dashboard led to the fast growth of Khan Academy. Just four years after being

founded Khan Academy had 10 million monthly users from over 200 countries and its website

was used in 30,000 classrooms for in school teaching (Fehrenbacher, 2014). As technology

continues to flood K-12 education, the role of Khan Academy within the industry of education

technology will continue to grow.

Like all great companies, the success of Khan Academy is directly related to the talent

and preparation of its leadership. Founder Salman Khan has a bachelors in math, a bachelors in

computer science and a masters degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology to go along with his masters in business administration from Harvard University

(Thompson, 2011). According to Tate (2012), Khan Academy quickly became a magnet for

talented software developers and key players from Silicon Valley. The non-profit hired Yun-

Fang Juan, a crucial member of the engineering team at Facebook, and Craig Silverstein,

Googles first employee and an integral member of the search engines development team (Tate,

2012; Olivarez-Giles, 2012). Silverstein, a Stanford graduate, served as Googles Technology

Director before joining Khan Academy (Olivarez-Giles, 2012). Silverstein continues to work for

the education company and currently serves as the Dean of Infrastructure (Meet the team,

n.d.). Programmer Ben Kamens and Designer Jason Rosoff, former employees of popular

software development company Fog Creek Software, lead the companys development team

(Meet the team, n.d.; Tate, 2012). Khan Academys goal to change the way the world learns

has attracted talented programmers and designers seeking to be a part of something bigger. This
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lofty goal has also appealed to a number of high-powered investors. Bill and Melinda Gates gave

$1.5 million in 2010 but have since poured in more the $9 million to Khan Academy (Williams,

2014). Tech giant Google gave $2 million in 2010 and the Broad Foundation, who largely

focuses on education, gave Khan Academy $4 million (Williams, 2014). These investments from

high-profile donors will help Khan Academy remain as one of the leaders in education

technology.

Khan Academy has cemented its place in the field of education technology, but it is

seeking to do more. The field of education is in transition as school districts move from

antiquated state standards to newly adopted Common Core State Standards. As teachers and

students work to adapt to these new educational guidelines, Khan Academy is trying to get ahead

of the curve. According to Cavanagh (2013), Khan Academy received $2.2 million from the

Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to develop online content and tools over the

next two years to help teachers and students meet the Common Core State Standards in

Mathematics. Demand for learning tools aligned to the new standards will only continue to

increase as Common Core Standards are implemented nationwide. Khan Academy will once

again have the opportunity to lead in the field of education. Salmans company is also receiving

national attention as educators seek to gauge its impact on student learning. The U.S. Department

of Education recently commissioned a $3 million study that will test the effectiveness of Khan

Academy as a teaching tool in California community colleges (Herold, 2014). A positive report

from the Department of Education would validate the work of Salman Khan and would open

doors for its already popular company. A positive report would also reinforce the need for further

integration of technology into the classroom, which would create a tremendous opportunity for

educators and computer scientists looking to enter the industry.

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The growth of education technology as an industry cannot depend solely on investments

into companies like Khan Academy. In order for growth to continue within the industry there has

to be a significant investment in the technology infrastructure of classrooms across the country.

Luckily for those seeking positions in education technology those investments are on their way.

As Bidwell (2014) reported, President Obama announced in 2014 that the federal government

was partnering with private companies to make a $3 billion commitment to education

technology. According to Bidwell, this investment would include money to provide high-speed

Internet access to 15,000 schools and distance-learning grants to rural communities. Tech giant

Microsoft donated $1 billion in products to the Presidents proposal (Bidwell, 2014). With such

large investments in technology infrastructure in K-12 education the future of the industry is

bright.

Large investments in education technology are proof that the demand for the industry is

here to stay, but the field has flaws and plenty of room to grow. One of the biggest criticisms of

the industry of education technology focuses on its lack of educators. Khan Academy founder

Salman Khan has himself been criticized. Former teacher Karim Kai Ani (2012) argued that

Khans explanations of mathematical concepts are often mistaken and that his lack of training

makes him a poor teacher. Anis argument is valid since Salman has absolutely no training in

education. Other critics point to the lack of interest in student assessments, particularly in

educational games. Developers often forget that learning games must show empirical evidence

that learning is in fact taking place. Teachers, parents, and learners all need and often request

of game designers a better understanding of what a game is targeting, how that situates into a

larger learning sequence, and how they know what theyve learned from the game (Groff,

Clarke-Midura, Owen, Rosenheck & Beall, 2015, p. 1). These criticisms highlight a disconnect
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between the fields of education and technology that can only be resolved through increased

collaboration between teachers and programmers.

In order to meet the challenges of education technology, students of computer science

and future programmers will need to become educators. Anyone seeking to enter this growing

industry will need to embrace and master the newly adopted Common Core State Standards

(CCSS). School districts are following CCSS guidelines when developing their classroom

curriculum. Teachers are investing time in learning the new requirements and future

programmers interested in education technology should do the same. In California, hundreds of

teachers have enrolled in summer professional development courses focused on Common Core

Standards (Ellison, 2015). Programmers should seek to partner with local districts and enroll in

these courses whenever possible. Locally, for example, computer science students could partner

with districts like Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD). GGUSD recently held

Super Week, an optional training before the beginning of the school year that focused on

refreshing foundational teaching skills, improving communication and integrating technology

into the classroom (Ellison, 2015). Success in education technology will not require a teaching

credential, but some knowledge of what students are learning and how they learn it will be

indispensable.

Success in education technology will still depend largely on a students technical capacity

and ability to innovate. Having a deep understanding of user interface design, for example, could

be imperative when seeking positions because providing an engaging user experience is essential

when developing applications for youth. A job posting for a position as Product Designer with

Khan Academy specifically listed user interface and user experience design as key qualifications

(Product Designer, n.d.). A course like Software Design, offered at Cal State University
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Monterey Bay (CSUMB), would provide the perfect foundation. The course focuses on large-

scale software development through the popular programming language Java, but also integrates

graphic user interface development (Course descriptions, n.d). Future programmers would

benefit from enrolling in Multimedia Design & Programming, also offered at CSUMB. The

course focuses on design, creation, and manipulation of interactive applications and electronic

media for communication purpose (Course descriptions, n.d). The challenge for software

developers in education is to capture the attention of students; therefore, learning to design

interactive applications rich in media is incredibly important.

Students should obtain a well-rounded education that provides more than just technical

skills. Cal State Monterey Bay offers a course titled Computers in Schools, which teaches

students how to effectively and creatively use computers in an education setting (Course

descriptions, n.d). This course would be a perfect elective for computer science students seeking

a career in education technology. As noted on the university website, this class meets teaching

credential requirements (Course descriptions, n.d), which means that computer science

students will have the opportunity to work closely with future educators. This experience could

prove to be incredibly valuable. Students of computer science should also seek to build a solid

portfolio. When seeking to enter the field of education technology students should be able to

demonstrate their capacity to take a project from conception to execution. They should have the

ability to move effectively through all phases of product development. The job posting for

Product Designer at Khan Academy asked candidates to have a great portfolio with a string of

successful projects in your wake (Product Designer, n.d.). Courses like Software Engineering

at CSUMB prepare students for such requirements. The course focuses on project management,

software design, implementation and testing (Course descriptions, n.d). Software Engineering
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allows students to demonstrate their leadership, planning and communication skills, which

employers are looking for just as much as technical skills. Students of computer science who

take the time to connect to the field of education while developing sound technical and

management skills through their computer science program could find themselves in demand

upon graduation.

The future of education technology is bright. Students, parents and educators are seeking

new ways to teach in the digital age and companies are taking full of advantage of the demand.

With innovative approaches, education technology firms are transforming the way we learn. The

industry shows no sign of slowing down as technology giants, education enterprises and

government agencies continue to invest in education technology. However, expectations will

continue to grow as funding pours in. Developers will need to demonstrate that education

technology is aligned with teaching principles. Computer science students seeking to enter the

field of education technology will need to learn to see themselves as educators. These students

will need to develop the technical skills that successful programmers and software engineers

possess, but will also need to connect to the field of education. This can be achieved through

elective courses in school or by joining local school district trainings. Students who manage to

bridge the gap between computer science and education will find success in this high demand

field.
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