Education's Split Personality: How can we be High-Tech AND Low-Tech at the same time?

Introduction: The global education sector is at a crossroads. On one hand, cutting-edge technology—from artificial intelligence to immersive learning tools—is transforming how students learn, teachers teach, and institutions operate.

On the other hand, as tech savvy educators demand an ever increasing share of budgets - supported by Principals with a clear understanding of the importance of pedagogy and curriculum delivery, the understanding of the need for available budgets for administration talent and technology to keep pace is less understood by school leaders.

So, where does education truly stand? Is it a high-tech industry embracing the digital revolution, or does it remain a low-tech industry that lags behind in critical areas like talent management, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance?

This discussion delves into the complexities of education's technological standing, exploring where the industry is excelling and where it still falls short.

1. The Case for Education as a High-Tech Industry

In many ways, the education sector has embraced technology with open arms:

a. Classroom Innovation:

• The use of EdTech tools, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and gamification platforms, has revolutionized learning environments. Students can now experience interactive, immersive learning that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.
• The rise of online learning platforms and massive open online courses (MOOCs) have democratized access to education globally, making high-quality learning available to students from any background.

b. Data-Driven Learning:

• Adaptive learning systems use AI to customize educational experiences for individual students, offering a personalized learning path based on real-time performance. These systems are revolutionizing student engagement and outcomes, ensuring that no two students follow the same journey.

c. Student Administration:

• Educational institutions, particularly in higher education, are increasingly relying on student management systems and predictive analytics to enhance student retention, track academic performance, and even manage financial aid and resources.

These advancements suggest that education has entered the high-tech arena, with schools and universities globally leveraging modern technology to improve learning outcomes.

2. The Case for Education as a Low-Tech Industry

However, when we move beyond the learning environment into the back-end operations of educational institutions, a different picture emerges:

a. Talent Management:

• Many schools, particularly smaller institutions and K-12 systems, continue to rely on manual hiring processes, traditional compliance methods, and outdated HR practices. Verifying teacher credentials, conducting background checks, and managing employee data are often fraught with inefficiencies, human error, and data security risks.
• The adoption of automated HR solutions is slow, with many institutions still using paper-based or simple spreadsheet systems to manage hiring, retention, and performance. This is in stark contrast to sectors like finance or healthcare, which have embraced automation and AI to optimize their workforces.

b. Regulatory Compliance:

• Education is also hindered by its adherence to manual and sample-based compliance models, particularly around teacher verification and background checks. These systems are not only time-consuming but also increase the risk of undesirable individuals working with vulnerable populations. Global compliance standards have largely not caught up with the digital age, leaving schools with an outdated regulatory infrastructure that does little to leverage available technology.

c. Infrastructure Gaps:

• Many educational institutions, especially in developing countries, still lack access to even basic technological infrastructure, such as reliable internet connections, computers, or modern software systems. Digital divides persist, meaning that many students and teachers around the world remain disconnected from the tech-enhanced learning experiences enjoyed by their counterparts in more developed regions.

These realities suggest that, at least in critical operational areas, education remains a low-tech industry with substantial room for growth.

3. The Split Identity: Education's Tech Divide

The education industry’s tech divide is stark: on the one hand, advanced digital tools are revolutionizing how students learn, but on the other, the industry’s administrative, HR, and compliance systems lag behind.

• Innovative learning environments show that education can be high-tech, but structural issues and resistance to change—particularly in management, operations, and regulatory aspects—keep it from being truly tech-forward as a whole.
• The fact that a school can implement cutting-edge learning tools in the classroom while using low-tech processes to manage staff, curriculum, and compliance illustrates this disconnect.

One of the biggest challenges this splits will create, is frustration as the workers on the front-line are seeking ever more effective ways to deliver their 'product', yet investment in people and technology behind the scenes in schools, is as low as it ever was and stagnating further.

When hiring tech-savvy talent to deliver front-line services, a consequence of this is an increased expectation that the back office functions of their organisations are streamlined, efficient and reliable. Systems, processes or people who don't evolve, slow the organisation down - little things like paper forms or non-fillable PDFs for procurement orders, increasingly irritate employees who are otherwise being asked to operate at the cutting edge of technology.

If back office functions of schools don't begin to modernise and catch up with the seismic shifts seen in education delivery, this will inevitably slow down the pace and ultimately quality of front-line innovation and service delivery.

4. Why Education Must Embrace a High-Tech Mindset Across the Board

The current approach, where educational institutions focus primarily on classroom technology but neglect operational and regulatory efficiency, is unsustainable. Schools need to recognize that innovation should extend beyond the classroom to the very foundations of how they are run.

a. HR as the Next Frontier:

• Automating talent management, integrating data-driven decision-making, and adopting global compliance standards are no longer optional. As education faces a global teacher shortage, ensuring that schools can recruit, vet, and retain the right talent is critical.

b. Technology as an Operational Asset:

• The operational side of education needs a tech makeover. From automating regulatory processes to using AI for workforce management, education can learn from other sectors that have successfully implemented technology across their organizations, not just in consumer-facing areas.

Conclusion: Is Education High-Tech or Low-Tech?

In conclusion, education is both high-tech and low-tech, depending on which facet of the industry we examine. Classroom innovation places education in the high-tech category, but the administrative, HR, and compliance functions paint a picture of a sector that still relies on manual processes and is underfunded, receiving an ever thinner slice of the wedge of salary and resources budgets.

As such, we create a catch 22, with lower relative resource allocation and salaries driving skills and capabilities of administration functions to stagnate, while the entire industry around them accelerates their technology adoption.

To truly become a high-tech industry, education needs to embrace technology beyond the classroom. Leaders must acknowledge that the future of education isn't just about how students learn, but also about how schools function, recruit, and operate. Only by addressing the tech gaps in operational areas will education move from being partially high-tech to fully integrated into the digital age.