Michelle Tiu, WestEd’s Director of Education Technology in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program, will serve as a member of the EdTech Genome Project, an initiative that aims to help inform educators and school administrators’ decision-making around which edtech solutions to invest in for their schools and districts.

Coordinated by the Jefferson Education Exchange, the project will:

  • Harness research to develop concrete tools to use when assessing the “fit” of a particular education technology product or service to gauge its efficacy
  • Combine extensive research methodology and outreach with educators to identify and study contextual variables that influence edtech implementation success or failure
  • Convene to reach consensus on factors such as “teacher agency” and “quality of professional learning”

Tiu brings a wealth of expertise in the research and evaluation of educational technology resources and tools to this new initiative. The 30-member steering committee is comprised of education leaders and research organizations including the International Society for Technology Education, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, Gallup, and the American Institutes for Research. Technology leaders and teachers from seven public school districts across the country will also be an integral part of this committee.