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SEERNet

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Evidence · 5 claims (4 for, 1 mixed) · 4 studies (3 design, 1 qualitative), q1 · 0 of 4 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description

SEERNet is an Institute of Education Sciences-funded network that supports responsible, inclusive, theory-driven research using data from digital learning platforms through shared infrastructure, governance, datasets, and research-practice partnerships.

Components

  • SEERNet hub of five digital learning platforms enabling large-scale education research: SEERNet is a hub of five digital learning platforms (DLPs), in K-12 or higher education, that enable researchers to conduct research and collect data on large numbers of students. The article states the DLPs "bring the power of Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) and can potentially connect interested researchers to large numbers of students to perform experimental work." The platforms are working to align with the SEER Standards around equity, and an important concern they are actively working to solve is protecting the identity, privacy, and data of students involved. (Designing for the future of research: Putting equity-relevant research into practice with )
  • SEERNet network connecting platforms, researchers, and educators: SEERNet is an IES-funded initiative in which "IES funded Digital Promise to form a network of connections among people representing platforms, researchers, and educators." It builds on five IES-funded platforms opened to researchers (ASU L@S, Kinetic/OpenStax, Terracotta/Canvas, Upgrade/Mathia, eTrials/ASSISTments) and funds improvement research including exploratory studies, design experiments, and efficacy and replication studies. Its Office Hours initiative convenes a community to co-design research questions relevant to emerging technology tools. (Debshila Basu Mallick et al. (2023))
  • SEERNet Office Hours: a co-design process pairing practitioners and researchers to generate research questions for five Digital Learning Platforms: Office Hours is a SEERNet initiative that brings practitioners and researchers together over roughly a 3-month period to co-design research questions grounded in real-world challenges with representatives from the five DLPs. Conversations were synthesized by a Digital Promise researcher, participants gave feedback, and "The output was five research question documents, one customized for each DLP." The sessions drew 31 participants, of whom 65% identified as researcher, 6% as practitioner, and 29% as both. (Pautz Stephenson et al. (2023))
  • SEERNet researcher support resources: platform research guide and proposal-writing resource: As network hub, Digital Promise with Empirical Education developed two resources for researchers. The first, "Conduct Research on the Digital Learning Platforms," provided "a comprehensive description of each platform's capabilities throughout the research process." The second, "5 Ways SEERNet Can Help You Write a Strong Proposal," helps researchers ensure proposals are feasible and aligned to the IES SEER principles. SEERNet and DLPs also hosted office hours for proposers. (Pautz Stephenson et al. (2023))
  • SEERNet RFA feasibility-letter process with post-award 6-month planning: To bring third-party researchers onto the DLPs, IES, DLPs, and SEERNet designed a Request for Applications in which researchers "submit their broad research concept and a request for a letter of feasibility to the DLP," because completely determining feasibility at proposal time would be impractical. After award, the process builds in a 6-month planning period to resolve implementation challenges and to surface the limits and boundaries of what each DLP infrastructure can support. (Pautz Stephenson et al. (2023))
  • SEERNet shared digital learning platform infrastructure enabling a performer community model: SEERNet is a research infrastructure initiative that stimulates researchers to work with data available in digital learning platforms while incentivizing developers to improve their research infrastructure. The paper reports it enables a performer community model in which many researchers work in coordinated cycles, use real-world usage data, and contribute to a cumulative evidence base, democratizing access by lowering technical and logistical barriers. (Strategic Surprise and the Future of Educational R&D)
  • SEERNet's framework of Digital Learning Platforms as research infrastructure for education research: The paper articulates SEERNet's core framework: positioning DLPs as research infrastructure so that researchers can ask and answer questions "grounded in realistic, widespread use of learning technologies." The network connects five DLPs (ASU Learning @ Scale, E-TRIALS, OpenStax Kinetic, Terracotta, UpGrade), a hub (Digital Promise with Empirical Education), researchers, and practitioners, aiming to lower barriers to research, increase relevance to practice, and rapidly incorporate findings back into widely used platforms. The framework draws on IES's SEER principles, including the newly added equity standard. (Pautz Stephenson et al. (2023))
  • SEERNet's four 'better' aspirations for next-generation research: science, engineering, practice, and community: At the Chicago convening, participants articulated "four kinds of advances in educational research" they want SEERNet to enable: better science (greater openness, external validity, utility, replicability), better engineering (privacy protection, uptake of results into products, learning engineers), better contributions to practice (research that involves practitioners and informs everyday teaching), and better community (more inclusive communities of researchers, practitioners, and developers). These aspirations, named as Wave 3, go beyond the 5-year SEERNet research agenda toward improving research infrastructure and practices overall. (Pautz Stephenson et al. (2023))

Claims

Key Sources

  • Wei, X., Roschelle, J., Pautz Stephenson, S. & Wortman, A. (2025). Researching digital learning platforms: Foundations, methods, and policy recommendations. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/257
  • Roschelle, J., Wortman, A., & Pautz Stephenson, S. (2025, January). Expected and Emerging Requirements for Digital Learning Platforms as Research Infrastructure. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/241
  • Schellinger, A., Zacamy, J., Roschelle, J., Closser, A., & Zepeda, C. D. (2024, April). Considerations for Conducting Research in Digital Learning Platforms. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/210
  • Pakhira, D., & Fusco, J. (2022, October). Designing for the future of research: Putting equity-relevant research into practice with scenarios and personas. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/163
  • Debshila Basu Mallick, Deblina Pakhira, Marianne Bakia. (2023). Tensions and Reflections on Researcher-Educator Co-design of Future-oriented Research Questions that Center Equity. SEERNet presentation, Houston, TX. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/f21258df-d91d-4bba-9d08-9cb944e578ca
  • Pautz Stephenson, S., & Pakhira, D. (2023). Practitioners at the Center, Part II: Reflections on Practitioners' Engagement with the SEERNet Hub. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/196
  • Pautz Stephenson, S., & Roschelle, J. (2023). Making Waves: Reflections on SEERNet's Progress Towards Enabling Next Generation of Education Research. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/195
  • Uncapher, M. & Roschelle, J. (2025, November). Strategic surprise and the future of educational R&D. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/277
Page metadata
Field Value
type product
id seernet
title SEERNet
description SEERNet is an Institute of Education Sciences-funded network that supports responsible, inclusive, theory-driven research using data from digital learning platforms through shared infrastructure, governance, datasets, and research-practice partnerships.
status review
moved_from element/seernet-dlp-research-infrastructure, element/seernet-dlp-research-infrastructure-network, element/seernet-five-dlps-hub, element/seernet-network-element, element/seernet-office-hours-co-design, element/seernet-research-guide-and-proposal-resources, element/seernet-rfa-feasibility-letter-process, element/seernet-shared-platform-rd-infrastructure, theory/dlp-research-infrastructure-seernet-framework, theory/seernet-four-better-aspirations
product_kind programme
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-09
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 6 — roschelle-j-wortman-a, schellinger-a-zacamy-j-roschelle, pakhira-d-fusco-j, debshila-basu-mallick-2023, pautz-stephenson-2023, uncapher-m-roschelle-j

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