In Spring 2016, faculty, support staff and administrators at Oregon State University met to candidly share their experiences with adaptive learning technology. Below are the main points of interest in my opinion.
1) Language is a barrier to adopting adaptive technology. Too often edtech providers use technical jargon that doesn’t resonate with those who are implementing their products.
2) Adaptive Learning technologies presented by vendors for consideration have been very different. That confused faculty, support staff and administrators.
3) It’s critical to engage faculty in the decision-making process, giving them time to explore multiple products and compare them, and identify those that are the best fit for the school and the students they serve.
4) One of the biggest barriers to usage is the problem of vendors over-promising what the products can achieve and what research backs up product design.
5) Institutions are looking for partners—not vendors—when it comes to implementing new solutions.