How teachers and ed tech can help each other

In the 1990s, computer access was a reward for students. I remember the glee of playing Number Munchers after finishing a period’s work. This was the extent of incorporating technology into the classroom. Times have changed. Technology has evolved, but we have two issues. We struggle to equip teachers with the tools to use new technologies effectively. We also struggle to compensate highly effective teachers altogether. Fortunately, we can solve both problems at once.

Education technology (ed tech) has become a massive, multimillion-dollar sector within the American economy. Companies like Khan Academy, Kahoot, and Chegg offer valuable learning tools for kids (and adults) around the United States (and the world). They also rake in millions of dollars in profits each year. Khan Academy, for instance, brings in close to $50 million in revenue each year, and its nonprofit status means the profits are tax exempt. Larger tech companies, like Google and Microsoft, generate profits that dwarf those of Khan Academy partially through making tools that are used in schools. In sum, a massive tech sector is profiting from American schools. More of these profits need to be reinvested in the schools these companies rely on.

What should that investment look like? There are lots of possibilities, but I want to focus on one idea. Ed tech companies should more systematically incorporate teachers, especially teachers of color and teachers serving vulnerable subgroups of students, into their corporate board apparatus. More simply, large ed tech companies should start rotating teachers onto their corporate boards or develop advisory boards made up of current teachers.