Jacobs Foundation calls for “culture shift” to put evidence at the heart of middle east’s $4bln edtech industry

Jacobs Foundation calls for “culture shift” to put evidence at the heart of middle east’s $4bln edtech industry

To further this drive, the Jacobs Foundation has committed CHF 40 million ($44 million) globally to foster greater cooperation between edtech investors, start-ups, and researchers. These key actors will convene in May this year at the Jacobs Foundation’s Unlocking the Impact of Edtech Conference in Germany, where they will discuss ways to make more and better use of evidence in edtech.

Last year, edtech start-ups around the world received a combined total of $20 billion in venture capital funding,[4] 40 times more investment than in 2010, and triple the pre-pandemic investment levels of 2019. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in its Digital Education Outlook 2021, called for more evidence on how technology benefits learning, as well as clear criteria on how it should be assessed.[5] A study published earlier this year by the US non-profit Digital Promise found that products grounded in learning sciences research are more likely to continuously improve and match students’ and educators’ needs.

Fabio Segura and Simon Sommer, co-CEOs of the Jacobs Foundation, said:

“With dizzying amounts of investment pouring into the Middle Eastern edtech sector, we must not lose sight of what really matters: whether these new innovations truly benefit children’s learning.

“Today we are calling for