Dive Brief:

• President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has a history of investment in technology, and ed tech advocates hope she will turn that support toward education.
• According to eSchool News, DeVos has advocated for the use of technology in education and digital learning, specifically as a way to create more freedom in the system that can benefit kids, and the charter school she and her husband founded uses personalized learning and computer-aided drafting tech.
• One concern among ed tech advocates is that DeVos’ support for school choice will mean public schools see less investment in educational technology and students in these schools don’t see the same benefits.

Dive Insight:

The Senate confirmation hearing for DeVos is scheduled for today, Jan. 17. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said a vote on her nomination is planned for Jan. 24.

If DeVos takes over as secretary of education, which is expected, support for educational technology may be one of the few consistent themes between the Obama administration’s Department of Education and the Trump Administration’s. Under DeVos, the department is expected to scale back its role in civil rights enforcement and increase support for vouchers, among other things.