US Department of Education: Evidence in EdTech Adoption & Design Decisions
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) encourages schools to prioritize the use of evidence-based interventions, leveraging insights gained from research activities and data to guide educational technology adoption in schools.
However, a digital divide persists between schools who are using technology in active, evidence-based, ways to support learning and those who use technology passively.
To mitigate the digital divide, the conversation has shifted from access to impactful design & use: How can schools and developers use evidence from advances in the learning sciences to evaluate and design impactful educational technologies that improve student learning?
As Emerging Technologies Impact Fellow for the US Department of Education, I extracted insights from landscape analysis, interviews with partner organizations and stakeholders, and user feedback to create the EdTech Evidence Toolkit.
The EdTech Evidence Toolkit provides:
Background knowledge for understanding ESEA’s four tiers of evidence, their definitions, applications, and role in guiding edtech adoption and design decisions.
Practical case studies with evidence-building activities to ground the tiers of evidence and the affordances provided by each level.
Highlighted partnership strategies that support the use of evidence in schools for impactful technology use and design to lessen the digital divide.
In the two months after its launch, The EdTech Evidence Toolkit received 12,484 views and 5,280 downloads, making it the 8th most viewed and 2nd most downloaded EdTech web resource for the U.S. Department of Education.
View the EdTech Evidence Toolkit I Developed for OET Here!
View the OET EdTech Evidence Listening Session I Organized with Digital Promise Here:
EdTech Evidence Toolkit in the Media:
“What Evidence Meets ESSA Standards? Department of Education Releases New Toolkit.” by Emma Kate Fittes, EdWeek Market Brief, May 4, 2023.
“Why It’s ‘Imperative’ that Edtech Providers Prove Their Products Work.” by Emily Tate Sullivan, EdSurge, May 2, 2023.
Lyla in the Loop Animated Series: Universal Design for Learning Features
As the Universal Design for Learning Series Advisor for Lyla in the Loop, my work for this project included consultation on ideation, research and development of the series. This work involved collaborating with a user-design production team of UX researchers and designers, series writers, and content experts to develop series episodes, ideate and user-test game prototypes, and support ongoing series R&D efforts with an eye to universal design for learning features across the series and games.
Created and produced by Mighty Picnic and animated at Pipeline Studios, Lyla in the Loop is a PBS KIDS animated series for children ages 4-8. Debuting February 5, 2024, Lyla in the Loop follows Lyla, a dynamic 7-year-old girl, her sidekick Stu, and a host of characters from her family and community. Using creative and strategic problem-solving, Lyla and Stu address a range of everyday problems together to demonstrate computational thinking in daily life.
Learn More about Lyla in the Loop and Our Mighty Picnic Team Here
Lyla in the Loop in the Media:
“New PBS KIDS Series, LYLA IN THE LOOP, Launches February 5, 2024.” By PBS Publicity, August 2, 2023.
“PBS Kids’ ‘Lyla in the Loop’ to Feature Interactive Episodes With AI-Assisted Conversation.” by Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, August 2, 2023.
PBS KIDS: DEI & Accessibility in Children's Educational Media
Diverse audiences for digital media experiences require approaches and best-practices that support accessibility to media content for ALL children.
As a Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Fellow for PBS KIDS, my work included supporting education media partners in understanding inclusive practices to support children’s growth and learning through educational media.
I analyzed PBS KIDS data to develop internal insights and tools to improve inclusion and accessibility in PBS KIDS digital media and games for 16M monthly users. I also used research insights extracted from the PBS KIDS Learning Analytics Platform to internally drive user design considerations and guidance for digital media developed through PBS KIDS’ $29M Ready to Learn Initiative funded by U.S. Department of Education.
This work aims to support education media digital inclusion efforts to create access and engagement with educational media among culturally, linguistically, and developmentally diverse children and their families.
Conference Presentations:
Prado, Y., Felline, C., Rodriguez, J., Roberts, J., Lovato, S. (2023, April) Children’s Decision-Making in Digital Games: Dwell Time, Attention, and Choice Behavior. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago Illinois.
Internal Reports:
Prado, Y. (2021) Intergenerational Learning in Children’s Education Media. PBS KIDS.
Prado, Y (2021) Digital Features for DEI Accessibility in Games. PBS KIDS.
Prado, Y. (2021) Promoting DEI in Children’s Digital Programming. PBS KIDS.