Recorded SessionIntroductions and agenda (5 minutes): Attendees will have an additional engagement opportunity by being presented with a QR code and bit.ly link at the beginning to submit questions.
Overview of Digital Promise work (20 minutes): presenters will provide the context and findings for the three projects (6-7 minutes each) that contributed to this work: Digital Promise’s product certification process, a case study with Denver Public Schools on their edtech evaluation process, and outcomes-based contracting.
Gameplay (20 minutes): Attendees will roleplay as a district leader deciding on whether they should purchase four fictional edtech products. Presenters will roleplay as developers representing the four fictional products to support (or deter) purchasing decision making. Depending on audience size, attendees will move through the “gameboard” (a decision tree d based on Denver Public Schools’ real procurement practices) and make decisions using the information shared with them at the beginning of the session.
For a larger audience (30+ attendees: Decisions will be based on majority vote. Voting will be done via Mentimeter.
For a smaller audience (29 attendees and under): Attendees will go through the gameboard with their table and compare with other tables during the reflection section.
Reflection and Q&A (15 minutes): Attendees will have the opportunity to volunteer and share their decision making process and own perspective using guided questions prompted by presenters. Presenters will then talk through the outcome of the game and share recommendations and best practices based on the results and additional questions that were virtually submitted by attendees throughout the presentation.
Attendees will learn about innovative strategies for centering intentionality, evidence, and authentic need in the edtech procurement cycle. They will further develop their knowledge of this topic by roleplaying and collaborating with other attendees. They will leave with a stronger understanding of how to assess need, evaluate edtech, and align procurement to desired outcomes.
Overwhelming number of edtech apps and products on the market (Liptrot et al., 2024)
Huge national spending on edtech (EdTech Evidence Exchange)
Lack of evidence driving edtech purchasing decisions (Peterkin, 2024).
Edtech tools lack evidence basis to support informed decision making (LearnPlatform, 2024).
Intentional and collaborative procurement processes need to be in place to ensure each edtech tool purchased has an explicit purpose for learning (Digital Promise & IDEO, 2013; McLemore & Rae, 2024).
With the overwhelming number of tools and lack of clarity on purpose, tools are often not used with intentionality or fidelity (Holt, 2024) making it hard to assess efficacy.
There is a lack of clarity around what implementation fidelity actually looks like and how it can be measured in a classroom context (Pattenhouse et al., 2025).
Early findings from the DPS edtech evaluation process show a need for clarity and communication in supporting edtech savings (Langreo, 2025).
Back
Trips and Tours
