Multiplying Impact: Five Frameworks for Investment in EdTech for Adult Learners

This report, available from LINCS: Community, Courses & Resources for Adult Education, explores the potential for technology to enhance the teaching and learning of advanced math skills for adults.

In this second of three reports, Power in Numbers examines opportunity areas for technology to drive impact for adult learners. We propose that edtech investors and developers focus on five key opportunity areas, and invest in technology solutions to improve adult education outcomes. Each opportunity area represents a framework for analyzing technologies to achieve maximum impact.

They are:

  • Supplement the instructor
  • Design for life
  • Engage the learner
  • Build the community
  • Connect the dots

With the right attention and funding, investment in the development of digital tools and technology solutions can not only tap into an underserved market, but also radically transform the experiences of adult learners and educators in math and beyond.

This document was funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education under the project titled “Power in Numbers: Advancing Math for Adult Learners.”

CoP Note: This resource offers a research-based framework for evaluating educational technologies for use in teaching mathematics to adult learners. All of the findings of the Power in Numbers initiative are available online, including the first report mentioned above, “The Math Gap: Implications for Investing in America’s Workforce.”

Daniel Hocutt

Web Manager and Adjunct Professor of English for the University of Richmond School of Professional & Continuing Studies.