Having studied in Toronto, New York and London, Dr Moeini is now an Honorary Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London’s Institute of Education. She is also the founder and CEO of Goldstar Education, a company that developed Goldstar EdTech Diagnostics. Based on a survey, this method rates EdTech products’ educational value to help empower buyers, investors, funders and policymakers. Dr Moeini believes in a world where everyone has access to high-quality education, and it’s her mission to bring EdTech into the classroom to enrich the educational experience.
Can EdTech solve issues surrounding educational equality?
As a combination of computing, communication, psychology, sociology, artificial intelligence technologies and education theory, EdTech can help close educational gaps and unlock human capital. Inequality fractures society, and asymmetric access to educational resources based on socioeconomic status, ethnicity and gender were exposed during the pandemic. Online learning relies on access to technology like laptops and the internet, so the poorest nations were disproportionately affected during the lockdowns.
“Digital tools that help teachers in the classroom have been around for decades but the pandemic highlighted how teaching and learning with technology must evolve to address educational inequalities,” Dr Moeini explains. “Anyone who had children who should have been in school or university during Covid suddenly realised the urgency to develop new digital teaching tools.”
Goldstar’s EdTech Diagnostics process begins with a survey for businesses that allows them to answer questions about their products and services. “Based on the survey results,” Dr Moeini adds, “Goldstar gives the product a score that indicates its trustworthiness and its value for learners. The best EdTech products benefit most people because they are designed with a deep understanding of the context of the individual – they draw widely on human experiences. As key learning tools, edtech helps us plug educational gaps such as making up for shortfalls in teacher numbers.”
The future of education
Education provides children with opportunities to break the cycle of poverty, earn higher incomes and lead healthier lives. It also provides a safer alternative to child labour or exploitation. It’s not only children who can benefit from a solid education, however. If adults can learn to read and write, it gives them access to more employment opportunities and reduces their isolation from society.
“EdTech isn’t yet regulated, so it’s difficult to know which products to trust,” Dr Moeini continues. “And developers often overestimate how much their tools can help. It’s vital that the products benefit everyone rather than just a privileged few. Edtech also needs to have a positive social impact on the lives of learners because this will help us achieve our human right to access high-quality education.”
Artificial intelligence will doubtless have a role to play in the future of teaching and learning, and it’s an area that excites Dr Moeini, especially now that there are tools on the market like ChatGPT. She believes these types of products are inevitable and they show how the sector has evolved and will continue to do so exponentially.
“Tools such as ChatGPT can synthesise information for us,” she adds, “but it’s still down to the learner to ensure that the information is received and processed in the right way. The student will also need to judge whether the information is biased, ethical and contextually relevant. As such, schools will probably have to train their pupils to use tools like this responsibly.”
Education will always need a human element because there are some areas where machines simply won’t be able to perform at the same level. AI tools don’t yet have the same level of creativity, for example. They also can’t guarantee content conforms to our ethics, morals and values.
Risk vs. reward in the EdTech sector
Dr Moeini was a media and telecoms entrepreneur who helped develop TV streaming products. In this sector, having released minimum viable products (MVPs), consumers then continuously provided feedback on what worked and which elements needed improving. When Dr Moeini discovered the unregulated EdTech arena, she realised that products needed to be developed in new ways, and this would require investment in the sector.
“I became very interested in how you develop EdTech products that work well,” Dr Moeini continues. “You also need to get these insights into the hands of edtech entrepreneurs and their investors to empower them to build better. Investors also need to have a clear vision of the team’s education mission, including what problems have been identified and how they can be solved by the injection of capital. If you don’t have this clarity of thought and purpose, our research and diagnostic will show that you risk investing in a product that won’t fulfil its promise."
When Goldstar assesses an EdTech business’s products, they look for certain practices – ‘superpowers’ as Dr Moeini calls them – that underpin the company. “We want to see leadership vision, a learning culture, a sense of purpose, teamwork, research know-how, and action orientation. It is a space that’s rapidly evolving but, at the moment, there are plenty of opportunities for investors because the research hasn’t translated into that many new products.”
The pandemic may have highlighted education inequality issues, but we clearly need investment in the next generation of products and services that aid learning. These tools can empower those who are economically disadvantaged or otherwise excluded from society, and their introduction has the potential to be the most powerful driver in overcoming secular stagnation.