Week 6 – According to Edtech investors what is the purpose of Education
IntroductionE
Educationis the transfer of knowledge and skills, it involves teaching and learning .R PLecently especially after the COVID pandemic education has moved speedily from the normal to the new norm and this new norm is educational technology, it’s not as if Edtech has not been existing before COVID but after COVID gave a rise to the use of education technology,In Nigeria there are some Edtech companies which include : Gradely, prepclass, Ulesson,passnownow, the powers behind this educational technology are the investors, since education technology is capital intensive, lot of money is involved in driving it which the investors provide.
To me the investors are the power house of education technology, “The education technology (EdTech) market is diverse and powered by finance from a growing EdTech investment sector” (Pau, 2021) and that is why their purpose of Education is very important to the making or breaking of education.
They have a publicized purposes of education which is uniting of education with technology, they leverage innovative solutions to improve how people learn.
I would like to discuss some of their purposes of education below :
1. Improving access to Education
EdTech investors believe that technology can make education to be assessible to all, not minding barriers such as the area, time, constraints.
Investors see Edtech as a means to educate more people even give opportunity to individuals who may ordinarily not be able to get it, for instance the National Open University of Nigeria is a university that is built solely on education technology, from the time of registration to the time of writing examination, before COVID they normally write physical examination, but the introduction of COVID has helped them to up their game, today they do E- exams, this has given opportunities to do many people to get formal education , many prisoners in Nigeria who are willing got their degree even masters degree from the open university, our former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was able to bag a PhD in theology at the age of 82 years old thanks to open university likewise the connected learning in crises consortium also leverage on the power of technology to increase education assess in context of crises, conflict and displacement So the Edtech investors see it as a way to educate many people regardless of where they are.
2.Improving Learning Outcomes-
Another purpose of education to EdTech investors is to improve learning outcomes using great educational experiences. They develop and implement technology-driven tools and platforms, which is aimed at enhancing student engagement, they encourage personalized learning according to the investors they believe that”Personalised, platform-based education is positioned as a moral imperative in the face of apparent curriculum standardisation, outdated modes of assessment and educators’ incapacity to address individual learners’ needs on demand and just in time. The implication is that schools are failing, unable to modernise, and don’t personalise learning.”” (Huw et al 2022), so they are all out for a personalized child centered learning using their platforms which would have been filled with content and resources that can help the child, and improve the academic performance of the child.
3. Preparing individual for a digital Future:
we are in a global world that technology is gradually taking over everything, almost everything has a technology undertone, it will not be surprising that that many people will loose their jobs in the future, it is even starting now, in Lagos state ministry of education whoever will be a principal or even a permanent secretary must be technologically inclined because part of the criteria for selection is that they must pass a computer based examination without any assistance, without any argument there’s no place for any one who is not technologically inclined, the person may not be a professional but at least be able to use the computer effectively.
The Lagos state government also built women development center, this is only to cater for women, especially those that have pass the school age and may be ashame of going back to secondary school, they do vocational training and basic computer training for women, this is to make them fit properly into the society in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Presently in Lagos state all the primary school make use of Eko Excel it’s an Edtech platform specifically designed for teaching Lagos state public primary school, it contains what the content, method even the evaluation of the lesson, it also contains a database of students and staff, with it the teachers login in the morning and logout after the close of work, this is used instead of a time book to monitor teacher’s attendance, pupils attendance is also taken on the tab ,so the Eko Excel tab is like the primary school itself, I see it as been similar to what Bridge Academy is doing, so a teacher without technology knowledge is completely useless Lagos primary schools, so EdTech investors recognize the importance of preparing students for the future workforce. They believe that education should equip individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in a technology-driven society.
Conclusion
The investors purpose of education according to EdTech investors is encompassing which includes increasing access to education, improving education outcomes, preparing individuals for the future, enhancing innovation, and promoting lifelong learning.
By using technology and innovative solutions, they aim to get positive change in the area of education and empower individuals to get to their full potential in an ever growing digital world.
Personally I see Edtech investors having fantastic publicized purposes of education but I still see some fragments of selfishness in their actions, they are only interested in achieving their aims , moving forward and getting a good return on their investment ( ROI), they are interested in developing something new every day not minding if the ones they already developed has been fully utilized, this may not sound real to students in the developed countries , they may even be able to go with the trends but what happens to a student from a country like mine, Nigeria, some, not even some many of the students in my school don’t have access to a personal phone or computer, so how will Edtech be useful for them, I will like to do a small recap to when we studied about bridge academy and I have the opportunity to meet and interact with some parents and people around the school, despite their great technology some parents withdrew their children because they are not doing well.
What about my much acclaimed Eko Excel used in Lagos state public schools, it has so many flaws to the extent that headmasters of primary school will advise the teachers to combine the Edtech solution with the normal teaching using the school curriculum ( since they can’t ignore the Eko Excel solution because it is the government baby, but it not really meeting the need of the students).
so in the interest of the students so they can be at the same level with there mates in private school, teachers mix Edtech with real teaching.
It was reported also that the Eko Excel is used to get more money than necessary from the government, this is how they go about it – they can repeat a particular pupil’s name like six times,( government pay per student on their platform ) that is fraud for crying out loudL
Lookingat it from the finance angle Edtech is not cheap at all, I see some of this rich and powerful investors as using Edtech platforms to milk and even get the little some poor citizens have in the name of payment for subscription and data spent on their site, Ulesson an Edtech company in Nigeria sent a mail to me on the promo they have on valentine day, I just wonder if you can go low for promo why not leave it that way, how many charity Edtech companies are operating in Nigeria, all of them are out for business and making profit is the goal of every business, it’s not as if I’m totally against the making profit aspect but I’m against the profiteering aspect that Edtech investors is tending towards,The primary motive of the investors driving the EdTech market is ROI(Huw et al 2022). I wish the Edtech investors put some things in mind like individual differences, and some developing nations, they should be more humane in their activities and not be so aggressively interested on their returns.R
References
Huw, D.,Rebecca, E.,January, K. & Ben, W. (2022). Investigating the financial power brokers behind Edtech
https://educationdatafutures.digitalfuturescommission.org.uk/essays/competing-interests-in-education-data/investigation-financial-power-brokers-edtechP
Pau S. (2021). Raising investments in EdTech: Trends in the market and tips for success. Nesta, 7 July: www.nesta.org.uk/blog/raising-investments-edtech-trends-market-and-tips-success
Komljenovic, J., 2021. The rise of education rentiers: digital platforms, digital data and rents. Learning, Media and Technology, 46(3), pp.320-332.
Curtis, B.(2017). Making markets for low-cost schooling: the devices and
investments behind Bridge International Academies VOL. 15, NO. 3, 352–366
https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2017.1330139
https://connectedlearning4refugees.org/
https://ekoexcel.ng/
Good morning Michael,I couldn’t put all the references on the post so I put them here.
No worries at all about the reference, Olubukola. Glad you included it even as a comment.
As for the post itself, well done. I am definitely seeing some good improvement here. The thesis statement is strong (‘The goal of ed tech is to purposefully and strategically use available resources to enhance the individual and collective educational experience, facilitate instruction and learning, and ultimately, support learners and educators.’) and you execute on that thesis statement throughout. The feedback I am providing you in the following isn’t to suggest that I see significant gaps in what you are posting, but rather I want to challenge you to keep extending this thinking further in each subsequent post. That is really the point of the blog in this course: it gives you a chance to build on past work. So my comments are more to stimulate further critical thinking.
Lifelong learning: Curious to hear about the Nigerian context here in relation to lifelong learning. Do you see any developments in this respect? In terms of lifelong learning as a socioeconomic construct, what role does technology have in that? One could imagine a lifelong learner just being someone with access to a public library for example. Does technology (and the commercial infrastructure behind it) fundamentally change that position of a lifelong learner as someone who possesses the ability to ascertain where their gaps are, and what resources they can consume to fulfil those gaps?
‘Education should be a fixer of inequalities.’
I think should is the operative word there. Education (and the edtech that feeds into it) should be a fixer of inequality but at times it rarely is. There is a French theorist who speaks to this as something referred to as social reproduction. Societies (and systems within it like education) will inevitably reproduce themselves (and their inequalities) without deliberate and sustained effort. How edtech interacts with that reproduction is worthy of our critical attention. https://infed.org/mobi/pierre-bourdieu-habitus-capital-and-field-exploring-reproduction-in-the-practice-of-education/. So no need to read too much about that idea of social reproduction but just something to bookmark for later!
‘The Lagos state government also built women development center, this is only to cater for women, especially those that have pass the school age and may be ashame of going back to secondary school, they do vocational training and basic computer training for women, this is to make them fit properly into the society in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.’
Interesting development here and I would be curious to learn more. This appears to be something that is pushing against the idea of social reproduction (ie deliberately programming education to groups who might otherwise be marginalised). Thanks for sharing.
‘…the Eko Excel tab is like the primary school itself, I see it as been similar to what Bridge Academy is doing, so a teacher without technology knowledge is completely useless Lagos primary schools, so EdTech investors recognize the importance of preparing students for the future workforce.’
Very interesting comparison here and one that I would be interested to learn more about (perhaps when we meet in Accra?). This might make for an interesting dissertation topic, if you are so inclined. You return to this topic again in the conclusion so clearly this is something that interests you (or you are concerned about!).
Good work overall, Olubukola. A stronger critical voice coming through in this post so well done. My only advice would be to try and proofread a bit before submitting (or you can just edit it afterwards) to make sure you have complete sentences and things like that. But otherwise making progress!
I want to say a big thank you to you Michael, you are a blessing to us, I always appreciate your objective comment,it goes a long way in challenging me to do better, thank you, I will surely improve.
It is my absolute pleasure, Olubukola. I am greatly enjoying our exchanges so I hope you are as well!
Yes,I’m enjoying it too, thanks for your support