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Ed Tech Competition to Identify Effective Technology Use in Schools

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) North America has launched the Education, Technology and Opportunity Innovation Competition in an effort to identify effective technology use in education and provide examples of how learning can be improved through innovation.

The competition asks school networks, education agencies, nonprofits and post-secondary institutions to team up with J-PAL to evaluate their education programs based on technology, especially those focused on disadvantaged students. Some applicants will be chosen to receive free technical support and access to the organization's network of professors to help in evaluation of their projects. Some applicants will also be selected to receive up to $50,000 to develop their projects.

The aim is to look into what technologies work best in education and why, while also helping to improve the ability of the education industry to create and use evidence.

"Randomized evaluations can help us learn which uses of education technology go beyond the hype," said Phil Oreopouolos, professor of economics at the University of Toronto and co-chair of the Education, Technology and Opportunity Initiative, in a prepared statement. "It's vital that the research community step up engagement with the ed tech field to help them develop, test and continually refine interventions that truly make a meaningful difference, and avoid spending time and money on ones that don't."

Applications must be submitted by April 13 and winners will be announced in June. For more information, or to apply, go to povertyactionlab.org.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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