Dive Brief:

• Venture funding for ed tech is expected to hit $2 billion this year, but some question whether these investments are paying off in the classroom.
• Ed tech venture funding has spiked since 2009, when it totaled only $385 million. Fortune reports that the space provides investors with plenty of bang for their buck, since there are no warehouses and few costs other than research and development.
• One major area of concern as ed tech gains prominence: discrepancies in access.

Dive Insight:

Other concerns include privacy issues and tech's impact on attention spans. Going 1:1 is pricey, yet many schools are feeling pressure to make the change. Understanding where ed trends come from is pretty key to figuring out how important they are. If billions are being invested in ed tech companies, it makes sense that those behind them are going to want to see them being used. That said, it doesn't necessarily mean this is the most effective way to teach.

Take the 1:1 push for example. A recent study by Northwestern University Ph.D. candidate Courtney Blackwell found that students who shared iPads performed better than students in classrooms with 1:1 deployments or no devices at all, indicating there is still more to learn and understand about how to best use tech in schools.