Purpose-Driven Expertise: The future of learning is purposeful!

Every successful, self-actualized person I have ever known can articulate their purpose and knows how to develop expertise to enact it. Their lives are a continual journey of refining and elaborating their purpose and continuously developing new expertises to put it in action. It is a difficult, often wandering, but ultimately fulfilling lifetime journey of discovery, learning, joy, hard work, and impact.

During the world-wide quarantine caused by COVID-19, I had the opportunity to reflect on my life’s work. While I am grateful for the part I have played in efforts to transform learning in our schools through the creative and active use of technology by educators and learners, I realized that I could think of nothing more transformational for a young person than to experience their own purpose in action. This insight sparked my own purpose-led journey of iterative research, testing, and real-world implementation to forge a new framework: Purpose-Driven Expertise.?

I realized that I could think of nothing more transformational for a young person than to experience their own purpose in action.

The goal of Purpose-Driven Expertise is to help young people discover and articulate their purpose and put it into action right now in their schools, families, and communities. In doing so, young people develop expertise that aligns with their purpose and experience how it feels to impact the world around them in ways that reflect their own values and aspirations. They begin to shape the world around them to become the world they envision.

By continuing to explore, prototype and enact purpose in real-world environments with the support of coaches and mentors, they become confident and experienced at the process of developing expertise. Over time, they become experts at becoming experts. They become skilled at identifying and mastering whatever new area of expertise might be needed to enact their purpose and collaborating with others to realize their vision.

Over time, they become experts at becoming experts.

Unlocking the skills and confidence to enact Purpose-Driven Expertise may be the most important capacity a young person can develop, transforming both their present pathway and future possibilities.?

I have a lot more to share on this topic! Let me know in the comments if you want to hear more about it in future editions of this newsletter.

The State of EdTech Quality

At the invitation of Beth Havinga from the European Edtech Alliance , I recently had the privilege of presenting via video at the EdTech Strategy Lab: Empowering the Ecosystem event held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. This groundbreaking gathering brought together 130 EdTech leaders from 34 countries, in partnership with the UNESCO Digital Transformation Collaborative and the UNESCO Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education.

In 2024, the EdTech Strategy Lab launched as a pivotal initiative aimed at empowering the EdTech ecosystem, fostering collaboration, and exploring the evolving needs and requirements of stakeholders around the topics of trust, evidence, and partnerships.

I was asked to share some thoughts about the current landscape around EdTech quality, what motivates ISTE ASCD to invest so much effort in improving it, current challenges, and what we are focused on to move the work forward.

Effective solutions are overlooked

We're observing incredible, transformational learning happening in small pockets of innovation, but the most impactful solutions aren't being widely adopted. Instead, solutions with stronger marketing presence, though not necessarily better outcomes, are often chosen.

The most impactful solutions aren't being widely adopted. Instead, solutions with stronger marketing presence, though not necessarily better outcomes, are often chosen.

Post-COVID has created a critical moment for EdTech evaluation

Many education systems that invested heavily in EdTech during COVID are now becoming more selective about which solutions they maintain as funding decreases. This presents a crucial opportunity for the entire EdTech ecosystem to demonstrate real value.

Teachers' voices are often excluded from purchasing decisions

Decision-makers are often encouraged to prioritize compliance in evaluating instructional technology and involve teachers only at the final stage of procurement, if at all. This is particularly concerning since teachers and students are the primary users of these solutions.

Solution providers need clearer priorities from buyers

I recognize that providers constantly balance competing motivations while trying to meet their bottom line. Without clear signals from buyers about what matters most, it's challenging for them to allocate resources effectively.

ISTE ASCD is focused on 3 ways to address these issues

1. The EdTech Index - We offer a free online catalog bringing together reliable product information from solution providers with quality indicators from trusted third-party sources to illuminate key areas to consider when exploring and vetting new tools. We are working closely with partners 1EdTech Consortium CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Digital Promise InnovateEDU SETDA to ease the burden on schools in evaluating ed tech.
2. The ISTE Seal - The ISTE Seal showcases products that have been tested for quality and usability and have triumphed. We conduct extensive research on two usability aspects: pedagogical usability, which ensures that tools facilitate effective teaching methods, and technical usability, which focuses on ease of use for teachers and students.
3. CoLab - We lead collaborative efforts to engage more educators in the research and development process. We recently launched CoLab, with the support of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative , a platform where education service providers and product developers can engage directly with our members, drawing from a diverse range of 80,000 full-time educators. We are also partners in AGILE, a network of school systems and individual practitoners working to accelerate human-centered education R&D, co-led by Leanlab Education , Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) , and Digital Promise . Please contact Tal Havivi if you want to participate!

Ongoing Challenges

1. Aggregating Market Demand - One major challenge remaining is the need to aggregate market demand around high-quality validators. For meaningful change, the market must collectively define and emphasize what constitutes high quality, signaling to solution providers that purchases will depend on meeting these standards. Achieving this requires unity and consistency in messaging across the industry.
2. Increasing EdTech Quality Literacy - Another challenge lies in improving educators' literacy in understanding and using evidence. Educators need guidance on the types of evidence to seek, when to request it, and how to evaluate it against other important criteria. Building this capacity among schools and school leaders is a critical, ongoing need.
3. Curating Reliable Sources - Educators face an overwhelming number of sources offering advice, often with conflicting perspectives. Greater alignment among those supporting educators is necessary to consolidate definitions of evidence and establish shared standards. This unified approach would make it easier for educators and education leaders to effectively navigate these complexities.

For meaningful change, the market must collectively define and emphasize what constitutes high quality, signaling to solution providers that purchases will depend on meeting these standards.

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I have had a number of people suggest that I take the leap and share my thoughts in a more formal way. I am starting here on LinkedIn. Thanks, in particular, for nudges from Jeremy Shorr Stefanie Cruz Vriti Saraf Richard Culatta Betsy (Elizabeth) Corcoran and Yusuf Ahmad . Look, I did it!

I plan to cover a wide variety of topics in the Learning Sparks newsletter, always with the goal of sparking new thinking, sharing, and learning. I would love your comments and feedback!

Joseph South

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