How Artificial Intelligence Can Improve the Success of your Edtech Implementation

For many schools and districts, the process of evaluating and selecting a new resource can take months and include countless committee meetings, and the process may even be subject to board approval. But, even with a thorough process that results in the selection of a proven-effective program, the impact on student outcomes that school and district administrators hope to see can still fall flat if the online learning resource is not implemented effectively. According to a survey conducted by THE Journal, two of the biggest challenges administrators face when implementing a new edtech solution are the lack of training and effective communication during the initial phases.

To successfully implement any new online learning tool, one of the most important things that administrators need is teacher buy-in because it’s the teachers who determine to what extent a new program will be used in the classroom in the end. To earn teacher buy-in, administrators need to be able to communicate to every teacher the value of the new tool and to make it easy for teachers to set up their accounts and learn how to effectively use them. Artificial intelligence (AI) can greatly simplify this process and make it much more efficient, allowing administrators to see the return on investment of their edtech investment sooner.

How AI can help administrators onboard teachers

After purchasing a new program, one of the first steps every administrator must take is to communicate to all teachers the steps to set up their accounts. While this seems straightforward on the surface, it can be quite challenging to get all teachers to prioritize this action among the many other things they need to work on. To encourage teachers to take action, they not only need to understand what they need to do, but they also need to understand why it would benefit them to do it. This is where artificial intelligence can really add value.

AI can take over communication and setup for the administrator. It can personalize messaging to different teachers based on their historical usage of the product, grade, and subjects taught, recommending setup preferences based on what has been effective for statistically similar educators based on data points such as school, district, city, state, and teaching styles. When implemented rigorously, AI can relate product features in a personalized way to get teachers excited to start the setup process and demonstrate to teachers how the program will help them support their students and ease the demands on their time.

After AI has guided teachers through setup, personalized training on the product comes next. Continuing with the data-driven, personalized approach described above, specific training resources can be recommended to teachers that are specific to their statistically determined, optimized use of the product.

AI feedback loop between administrators and teachers

Utilizing both machine learning and time series analysis, AI can identify not only the necessary setup, training steps, and product features but also the specific points in time when they should be completed to maximize student outcomes. But, even with setup and training optimized by AI, it is still critical for administrators to be able to track where teachers are in the process. AI can proactively communicate back to the admin any existing gaps within the setup and training, including prescriptive recommendations for what the administrator can do to intervene with campuses, grade-level teams, or even specific teachers who may need additional nudging to move forward. AI can help ensure that a successful implementation can be achieved while the time burden is minimized on the administrator and teachers.

School and district administrators usually make the decision to purchase and implement a new online learning program because they believe that the program will have a positive impact on student outcomes. AI can help make sure that the intended impact is realized.

Edmentum, artificial intelligence, and the future of education technology

Ready to bring AI into your edtech implementation? Be on the lookout for what Edmentum has in store for summer 2020 to make setting up and implementing a new program quicker and easier than ever before.

For more information on the impact AI is having on education, check out the blog posts 2 Ways Artificial Intelligence in Online Learning Can Save Teachers Time and Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom: What Educators Need to Know.