K-12 Started the Edtech Quality Conversation. Higher Education Delivers its Own Answer in Our First Edtech Top 40 for Higher Education.

Edtech and AI quality matters. When we think about whether either solution type works in a K-12 or higher education classroom, we should always ask about the quality of these solutions first.

What defines quality? 1EdTech, CAST, CoSN, Digital Promise, InnovateEDU, ISTE, and SETDA proposed five areas (i.e., safety, research evidence, inclusivity, usability, interoperability) that K-12 should consider when reviewing and vetting tools for the classroom. For the first time, our Edtech Top 40 reviews solution quality and usage through a higher education lens. 

We have always known that higher education operates differently, using different tool types and vetting procedures, but didn’t have the data to take a closer look, until now. This year, our Edtech Top 40 explores US higher education institutions, examining the types of tools used and the edtech quality indicators guiding institutional decisions. There were a few interesting things that stood out to me in this report:

1. Edtech quality matters in higher education, but the weight placed on indicators differs.

I moderated a panel with K-12 and higher education leaders on edtech evidence and quality during InstructureCon in Louisville this year. We shared our latest results from the US K-12 Evidence Report and Edtech Top 40 reports. I expected some disagreement about solution vetting, but didn’t hear it. The overlap was real, but underneath it, the emphasis was in different areas.

Higher education leaders consider data security, accessibility, and student usage data to be table stakes. They want to ensure student data is protected and FERPA requirements are met. In addition, they want tools that meet DOJ Title II (ADA) requirements. Higher education leaders also demand insights on actual usage, while treating research studies as a nice-to-have. They pushed back against freemium tools that bypass institutional approval, noting that such tools create friction with IT and procurement approval processes.

These insights also reflect the data we saw in the Higher Ed Edtech Top 40. Across the top used tools, 75% of tool websites referenced SOC 2 compliance and 58% referenced a HECVAT (both data privacy indicators). Additionally, 90% of tool websites included access to a publicly available VPAT (critical for accessibility); 43% of tools had some research (beyond a case study), showcasing how their solutions positively influenced the teaching and learning experience; and 43% met LTI 1.3 standards according to 1EdTech.

The most used edtech and AI tools in higher education are those that are institutionally vetted, using the same general quality dimensions as K-12, just weighted differently.

2. Higher education places a greater focus on instructor knowledge and design expertise and largely avoids personalized learning solutions common in K-12.

The most used tools in higher education are for content dissemination through commercial textbook publishers and distributors, and for online collaboration and video. In higher education, instructors are cultivating hybrid and fully digital experiences, where students can access source materials and textbooks online, continue in-person conversations digitally, and revisit lessons through lecture recordings. 

These learning opportunities are distinct from K-12, where the focus is largely on in-person education with some supplemental instruction through personalized learning solutions. In higher education, personalization and tutoring may be happening, but this is likely through instructor-led engagements and off-platform AI solutions, which leads me to my next interesting insight.

3. AI tools did not break into the top 40, but academic integrity tools ranked high on the list.

AI tools are currently a topic of great debate in higher education. Institutions are torn between banning and embracing AI. We fully expected to see some of this debate in our Higher Ed Edtech Top 40, but it wasn’t present. No AI LTI tool made the top 40 or even the top 100. Yet, academic integrity tools such as Turnitin, Proctorio, and Honorlock did. 

This difference is interesting and appears to reinforce higher education concerns about AI usage across the globe. Our survey with US higher education students and educators this summer found that 90% of students use AI in class, but half (51%) of educators are highly concerned about academic integrity and plagiarism. This concern may be driven by only 11% of educators having received comprehensive AI training. As we move into this new age of AI, we will need more robust discussions, information, and training on where AI can be beneficial and where it’s harmful, ultimately empowering educators, learners, and society with the nuanced approach we should take moving forward.

In higher education, educator judgment in tool selection is paramount, but there are certain table stakes that are unavoidable and institution-wide. Edtech (including AI tools) should safeguard learners’ data, follow federal accessibility standards, be interoperable with other systems and, ideally, have proof that they positively impact the teaching and learning experience in some way. While higher education doesn’t use personalized learning tools, the expectations are there for content, collaboration, and videos to be engaging and result in time savings. Quality matters in higher education, just as it does in K-12, but the requirements are slightly different.

Read the report at: EdTech Top 40: Inside the U.S. higher education digital learning stack.