EDUCATE: Creating the Golden Triangle for Research-Informed Industrial Collaborations within Educational Technology

EDUCATE is a London-based partnership that supports and promotes the use of research-based education technology, allowing entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop their products and services, and grow their companies in an evidence-informed manner. The EDUCATE process connects businesses with researchers who will mentor, guide and support them on their research journey. A key aspect of this research journey is the evaluation of the emerging technology being developed by each business that works with the EDUCATE programme. However, conducting impact evaluations of technology in education is challenging, particularly so for emerging technologies, as innovation and change are their essence. Here, we present a pragmatic approach to impact evaluations of emerging technologies in education which we use within the EDUCATE project. We illustrate the use of this process through exemplification in the shape of three case studies of educational technology businesses who have adopted the EDUCATE process.