Education Agencies Launching Technology Competitions

Education Week (1/30, Cavanagh) reports that some state and local education agencies are holding competitions to encourage collaboration between schools and education technology firms. "The goal is to encourage technology entrepreneurs and companies to think more closely about how they can craft products to meet the specific demands of schools, as opposed to coming up with devices that look or sound great in theory but are of little practical value to educators or students. The architects of those technology competitions liken them to contests that have brought together public and private sector interests in other fields, such as science, aviation, and transportation, with the goal of producing innovations." The article profiles such efforts by the New York City Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Education.