Five-step iterative co-design process for developing edtech evaluation criteria with learners and vendors¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report details a repeatable recipe for co-designing evaluation criteria: "Digital Promise and the CO used a multi-staged, iterative co-design methodology to center student, faculty, and staff voices throughout the development of each badge requirement". Each badge followed five identical steps: define needs through design sessions, refine priorities through survey dissemination, interview edtech vendors for feedback, invite vendors to pilot the application, and assess pilot submissions to finalize the application. Over 400 students, faculty, and staff completed the three prioritization surveys, analyzed via thematic and frequency-distribution analysis triangulated with demographic data.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Access to students, faculty, staff, and vendors with existing institutional relationships willing to participate in sessions, surveys, interviews, and pilots

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• Community college students
• Faculty and staff co-designers

Target Learning Goals¶

• Centering authentic instructional and learning needs in edtech evaluation criteria

Related Strategies¶

• Five recommendations for higher education systems elevating student and faculty voice in edtech evaluation
• Conduct ed-tech pilots by articulating the instructional need, setting clear product-review criteria, involving educators in planning, supporting educators throughout, gathering data from all users, deciding from data, negotiating purchasing options, and sharing results
• Seven IUX methodologies for centering learners in LER technology development
• Integrate co-design and continuous feedback loops into AI evaluation processes
• Pilot guidance documents with a small set of schools and iterate before wide dissemination
• Six-step design methodology: elicit values, minimal intervention, multi-level multi-outcome evaluation, iterate, simulate scale, sunset

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Van Nostrand, P., Noakes, S., Foster, A. J., & Burstein, R. (2025). Putting learners first: Broadening access through technology evaluation in California Community Colleges. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/279