Driving and Inspiring Greater Quality in Education Innovation
Our education system is going through a time of tremendous change and uncertainty. With challenges ranging from the demands of AI integration, looming budget cuts, teacher shortages, and significant cuts to education research by the federal government, the context of PreK-12 education is rapidly changing.
At the ISTELive25 and ASCD Annual Conference, the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) led conversations aimed at learning and collaboration as a means to meeting the challenges of the moment and charting a path forward together.
As the nation’s first discovery and invention hub for education, we start at the front end of learning science and innovation, seeking the fundamental, cutting-edge research and new technical capabilities needed to solve for persistent, complex teaching and learning problems.
Through our portfolio of R&D programs, we combine scientific rigor with co-design to discover breakthrough solutions that unite educators, scientists, and technologists with students to tackle the public education’s most pressing challenges.
What Innovation Looks Like: AERDF Awardees at ISTE+ASCD
To demonstrate what’s possible when we break down siloes and center learners and educators in education R&D, AERDF debuted the latest advancements in math, literacy, assessment, and AI at this year’s ISTE+ASCD Annual Conference. From literacy screening in minutes to boosting math comprehension in the schoolyard to co-designing strengths-based formative assessments using the power of generative AI, AERDF’s R&D programs and awardees are generating new scientific research, technical advancements, and dynamic prototypes pushing on the edge of what’s believed to be possible in education.
In this blog, we share many of the latest inventions and developments from our AERDF Awardees and partners across our R&D Programs – EF+Math, Assessment for Good, Reading Reimagined, and AugmentED – including: Magpie Literacy, Juego, Stanford ROAR, Big Words Project, Read STOP Write, Achievement Network, Throughline Learning, MindCatcher, Playlab AI, MIND Research Institute, University of Tennessee, University of Buffalo, Texas A&M, Michigan State University, University of Denver, Georgia Southern University, Leanlab Education, Learner-Centered Collaborative, Alliance for Learning Innovation, InnovateEDU, and The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America.
Take a look at the evidence-backed education solutions and insights our R&D programs are generating. These are making their way into the hands of thousands of educators and learners and impacting math, reading, assessment, and the future of teaching in the age of AI.
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Teachers and AI: Co-designing the New Classroom
AI is already making its way into classrooms. While that can come with many questions and concerns, we still have the power to influence how AI shapes teaching and learning. Rather than responding reactively to technological change, AERDF’s fourth flagship R&D Program, AugmentED is embracing this pivotal moment and working towards a future where teachers and AI work in harmony to nurture the full potential of all students.
Unlike traditional technology efforts that engage teachers as product testers, AugmentED is putting teachers in the driver’s seat from day one as true co-designers. In an invite-only session attended by over 30 educators at ISTE+ASCD, AugmentED, in collaboration with Playlab and Teach for America, hosted a 3-hour interactive workshop about the future of teaching and learning in the age of AI. Educators were encouraged to integrate their classroom expertise with futurecasting techniques to dream of ways AI can support educational transformation.
Generative AI can play a unique role in creating more relevant, competency-based, and skills-focused learning environments without replacing teachers or learners. “Learning remains a deeply human experience,” said AERDF CEO, Auditi Chakravarty, at the Beyond the Buzz: Harnessing AI for Meaningful Learning panel at ISTE+ASCD. She explained that learning, at its core, is about meaning-making. AI cannot generate this meaning for a learner. Likewise, AI can process information and generate outputs, but it can’t build trusting relationships or meet the needs of 30+ students in a classroom. However, AI can help educators better tailor their instruction to their students’ needs while preparing students with the skills they’ll need in an AI-driven world.