The inaugural GETN convening – Rome 2023

Read how the GETN was formed when 55 people from 47 global organisations aligned on a common goal.

The Global EdTech Testbed Network grew from a 3-day convening funded by Jacobs Foundation in February 2023. Fifty-five people from twenty-one countries representing forty-seven organisations convened in Rome, Italy to discuss different approaches to building a better evidence base for K12 EdTech. The discussions centred on how we could develop more system-wide approaches to the piloting, evaluating and “testing” of EdTech in real-world settings.

We had three core aims for the convening, which were to:

• Understand the varying perspectives of key stakeholders within the EdTech ecosystem, namely: school system leaders and practitioners, EdTech developers, investors, philanthropies, intermediary organisations and researchers.
• Identify key opportunities, and barriers in building sustainable EdTech Testbed environments.
• Co-design a prototype EdTech Testbed structure aligned to specific global geographies, taking into account regional contexts and potential sustainability methods.

Conversations were informed by the Systemic Edtech Testbed Framework (opens in a new tab), which helped us think through the important components of testbed initiatives and approaches. Participants explored the associated impact goals, thought about the important pre-conditions, and got inside the details of the EdTechs, the Tests and the Beds!

The first Global EdTech Safari provided a whistle-stop tour of testbed approaches from Australia, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, the United States and Switzerland, which highlighted the similarities and differences.

Relationships were built, collaborations forged and strengthened, and a global network was formed.