Platform consolidation is changing how teachers teach. Procurement teams are not asking about it.
Research in the British Journal of Educational Technology found that the push to solve schools' data interoperability problem is driving consolidation onto single-supplier platforms, with consequences for teacher autonomy that no one is measuring at the point of purchase.
By Wistl Editorial · · Higher Ed
Research published in the British Journal of Educational Technology examined the data infrastructure of two UK schools alongside broader EdTech market trends, drawing on interviews with school staff, EdTech companies and consultants. Its central finding is that the demand for data interoperability is the primary driver pushing institutions from what researchers call a patchwork of platforms toward a single platform solution, and that this shift is changing the nature of teaching work in ways that procurement decisions rarely acknowledge. The patchwork problem is real and widely felt. A typical