Technologists in the Teacher Workforce: A Strategy for Survival

This year, I tried to answer this fundamental question in education: why is there a learning crisis when there are more resources and investments in education today than ever before?

In finding an answer to this question, I stumbled upon the concept of the pace of innovation and saw how education organizations who are not innovating and utilizing technology today are risking both the longevity of their institutions and are affecting learning outcomes of students by depriving learners of opportunities for increased engagement in the classroom.

Understanding The Pace of Innovation

Simply put, the Pace of Innovation in Education is the gap between the resources being invested in education and the learning outcomes being produced by those resources.

This relationship can be viewed by comparing the ability of students and the amount of resources allocated in education through the years. Two graphs are seen below: on the left, showing an increasing ratio of students below the age 10 who cannot read and write; and on the right, a drastic growth in venture funding in EdTech from pre-pandemic 2019 of $7B to $20.8B in 2021.

Source(s): HolonIQ Global Education Outlook and World Bank State of Global Learning Poverty

Both graphs show growing trends, but with a significant finding that a) there are many products and services in the market that are serving specific needs in education, but b) are not trickling down to improved learning outcomes for students.

Most affected by a slow pace of innovation are learners from low to middle-income countries such those in Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia an Vietnam, to name a few), whose education systems face barriers that slow down innovation such as a disempowered teacher workforce who lack the support they need to succeed in the digital transformation of classrooms. Building up a strong teacher workforce today and supporting innovation inside classrooms, can mean economic survival in the future.

A Fight for Survival

According to the World Bank, $21 Trillion is at risk in lifetime earnings for generations who were affected by the learning losses exacerbated by the pandemic school closures.

In the Philippines alone, the longest recorded school closure is 2 years into the pandemic, severely widening the learning gap for students unable to access modern education tools and classrooms.

In any industry, one of the biggest drivers of the pace of innovation is human capital. And the same goes with education — a disenfranchised workforce slows down growth and contributes to brain drain in the education ecosystem.

Empowering Technologists in the Teacher Workforce

Teachers who perceive themselves as digitally literate have a higher chance of success in the current education environment, which is rapidly changing and evolving due to the introduction of technology in classrooms (Mafte, Grigore, Merlici, 2023).

We have heard the story of teacher burnout, a million times before — with the pandemic triggering a transition from traditional on-campus classrooms to a hybrid setup (a combination of virtual and off-campus learning), many teachers have experienced the pressure to learn digital skills quickly, and at the same time, meet expectations from parents, students, schools and districts (Hoang, 2020). Not all teachers have been able to manage this transition and many feel burnt out and overwhelmed in these new learning environments that put an emphasis on technology.

Ensuring our teachers are well-equipped to manage modern learning environments is an essential strategy to combat the learning crisis we are facing and will bridge the gap between the robust EdTech global marketplace and teacher workforces in communities who need it the most.

A Resource for Teachers

This Holiday season, I collaborated with Kai-Wei Chiu, a UPenn classmate who was formerly an IB teacher from Taiwan. We created an 8-week free course to support teachers in Southeast Asia who are struggling to use digital tools inside classrooms. The course is designed to walk teachers through hybrid teaching essentials from learning about the broader context of technology to training in new skills that can empower them to become technologists inside classrooms and beyond throughout their careers.

If you are a teacher from a country in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and are interested in participating in this course to learn about technology and innovation in the classroom, send me and Kai-Wei an email for any questions! You can reach us at admin@co-teach.net.