Mordecai I. Brownlee, Lou Pugliese, Greg Smith and Mohammad Haque; Campus Technology
Investors poured a record-breaking $2.2 billion in U.S. ed tech in 2020, appropriately coined the most disruptive year for the education industry. While there has been an uptick in investments, as well as the number of education technology tools available to serve learners and instructors, we’re witnessing unsettling declines in college enrollment and persistence for underserved populations. An imbalance in access to technology — often dubbed the “digital equity gap” — has been a key contributor to poor student outcomes. This imbalance is often invisible to well-intentioned instructors who perceive their course environments in different ways than students. Institutions of higher education must pivot to meet new learners where they are, while addressing the very real divide that exists (and yes, this requires steps beyond extending WiFi to the university parking lot).
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