Covid-era Education Tech Narrowed College Learning Gap for Poor, Minorities

Covid-era Education Tech Narrowed College Learning Gap for Poor, Minorities

As laptop screens have taken the place of university lecture halls a $200 billion education technology boom has sparked a tug-of-war, with professors and union leaders opposing software entrepreneurs and budget-conscious lawmakers. And data shows that when the techies win, America's college learning gap narrows for poor and minority students.

Education technology, also known as edtech, delivers lessons less expensively than in-person instruction, amounting to a roughly 80 percent decline in per-student cost, according to a study published in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed journal. Adult students, military personnel, foreign students stranded by the pandemic have also found new learning opportunities.

The research firm Insight Partners projects that the edtech industry will grow to $234 billion by 2027, a 15.3 percent increase compared with 2020. But as the market grows, so does the controversy.