In the “old days”, a teacher would receive a textbook and curriculum materials, and would teach from those materials. Most teachers would put their own spin on these resources, but the core content would remain the same and wouldn’t vary that much from teacher to teacher. Enter…the Internet. Now, a teacher never has to open their district-issued textbooks (if they even have them, but more on that in a moment). They can find an endless supply of activities and resources on the Internet that they can use in their classrooms. Many of them are available free of charge, or for a small fee, and teachers have been able to find spaces on the Internet to monetize their materials. Many schools also subscribe to educational software packages and productivity software packages and provide them to all teachers.

While textbooks have always traditionally been seen as expensive and low-quality (and by extension, technology tools have been pitched as a high-quality replacement), a recent report by LEA(r)N Platform, a Raleigh-based analytics company that collects and analyzes data on software utilization in K-12 districts, tells another story. Most districts utilize over 2,500 edtech tools during the school year (up from around 300 in 2016-2017). Additionally, in their, they estimate that schools spend over $12 billion on educational technology annually and $3.8 billion on edtech software licenses. This equates to approximately $75 per student. In 2019-2020, North Carolina’s dedicated line item for textbooks and digital resources equated to $32.26 per student (down from $47.86 in 2017-2018). This does not include the mountain of COVID-19 funds that was made available.

Based on the LEA(r)N analytics data, only 16% of that software is fully used and 26% is never used by students. Only 11% of software fully met usage goals. The LEARN platform report, the top tools are operational classroom tools and some basic curriculum and assessment tools (which is understandable, because many edtech tools are niche products that would be used by certain subjects and grade levels). Furthermore, their reports note that while the number of tools in use in a district has increased drastically, the number of individual tools used by students and teachers continues to decline (approximately 42 tools per year) - suggesting that school edtech ecosystems are becoming increasingly fragmented.

These changes are tied pretty clearly to COVID-19 - many tools gave their products away for “free” at the beginning of the pandemic, both rapidly changing adoption, and creating headaches for many stakeholders. Specifically, schools face challenges vetting these tools, software that was free now has a cost, and tools that teachers have started using continue to be used, creating the fragmentation.

The complications and cost of educational software, along with balancing the issues that come with “free stuff on the Internet” along with materials being created (and sold) by teachers mean the CTO has a pivotal and deep role in how digital resource are selected and used in the district. Textbooks are also still used (parents, students, and many teachers still demand them) complicating budget issues as well.

Content Ecosystem

Types of Digital Materials

When discussing “digital materials”, we are typically referring to tools in one or more of the following categories. In each of these categories, AI is being used to enhance or alter their functionality in some way. A single tool may span multiple categories:

• Productivity tools such as Google Docs or Microsoft Office or Canva or Asana or Slack. The tool may be web-based, an app, or installed on a device, but is generally used in a space beyond solely education - these tools may be used by people in personal or business contexts, but also are used in the classroom. While they may have educational components, they are typically not exclusively designed or marketed for use in schools. Many of these tools are introducing AI tools such as Microsoft CoPilot or Google Gemini to leverage the power of generative AI to improve productivity. There are also an increasing number of AI-focused productivity tools such as Google’s NotebookLM, a AI-enhanced notetaking and knowledge tracking tool.
• Classroom Productivity Tools are tools such as ClassDojo or Kahoot that are designed specifically to support teachers in implementing lessons or classroom management functions. These tools may be used exclusively be teachers or may also be used by students or parents. AI Tools like Merlyn Mind live in this space.
• Learning Management Systems such as Moodle, Canvas, and Google Classroom, are tools that support the delivery of instructional materials and activities in an organized format as well as a facility for the administration for the grading and assessment of activities.
• Learning Objects are defined differently by different groups and organizations. For our purposes, a learning object is a discrete set of content and activities focusing on a single objective. This may be something like a lesson plan or a text snippet or worksheet or a video or a brief assessment. In principle, learning objects should be interoperable such that they can be used in a variety of systems and contexts; reusable such that they can be used or adapted for different learning events or activities; discoverable , or set up in a way that a user can search and find them; remixable such that an educator can combine multiple learning objectives or modify an object to suit their needs; and manageable in such a way that they can be updated over time.
• Drill and Practice software emphasizes repetition for mastery and can provide students with a content module and an assessment before progressing students to more difficult material. A subset of drill and practice software, Intelligent Tutors can determine gaps in student knowledge and prescribe appropriate remedial content and AI tools like Khanmigo exist in this space.
• Tutorial software delivers content in lieu of a teacher, sometimes as a video or a short interactive activity. There may be an assessment at the end to check for understanding.
• Simulations mimic live activities, such as science experiments, in a low-cost and low-risk setting. Simulations typically allow for students to learn through discovery by changing certain conditions of the simulation to allow students to experience different results. Artificial Intelligence is getting increasing use here as simulations can be interactive and dynamic based on the inputs from the students.
• Educational games incorporate elements such as a challenge, quest, competition, or reward. Educational games may involve a simulation or a drill-and-practice element to advance through the game, while others are performance-based.
• Integrated Learning Systems are “courses in a box” tools such as PLATO learning (discussed in Unit 1) containing elements from all of the above to create a complete course experience that a student completes digitally.

Subscription Models

All software is licensed as either a product or a service. A product is defined as a software package that you purchase or download, typically one time, and then own perpetually. Typically these packages are hosted and installed on a local computer and server infrastructure. Software packages sold as a product are typically referred to as “perpetually licensed”. A service (or subscription), is typically paid monthly or yearly and the infrastructure is typically managed centrally, often as an app or website. Recent advancements in cloud technologies and more ubiquitous Internet access has created a hybrid model, inclusive of software as a service, where a software package is included as a part of your subscription cost (Spotify, for example) or where your subscription adds additional features to an application (Microsoft Office, for example).

Sources of Digital Materials

In general, all applications can be classified as one of three types:

• Commercial Resources are any resource that is purchased, either as a product or service. This may be a textbook or a service like Kahoot or Google Drive. In Unit 6, we’ll discuss contracting and procurement processes for digital resources. However, some procured subscriptions may be free (Google Drive) or “freemium” where schools need to pay for usage beyond a certain tier.
• Open-Educational Resources are resources that are available on the Internet, usually for free, and are licensed under a Creative Commons license that allows for remixing and reuse of the content.
• Teacher-Created Materials are materials created by practicing teachers, either for use in their own classroom or for distribution on the Internet.