This is how it works

Everything begins when an EdTech company creates a test - they will provide details of their digital learning resource and their reason for running the test. Educators and institutions will then match their learning needs to the digital resources to be tested and can express their interest in running a test. All documentation about the test is available to all parties through the programme’s web portal.

Once the test is confirmed, the companies and institutions involved will meet to agree the purpose of the test, its duration and dates for follow-up meetings. Each participating institution will be represented by a project manager, who will take care of the agreements and associated documentation. In order for everything to run as smoothly as possible, Edtest provides a checklist and agreement templates for companies / institutions to use as required.

Please note that several institutions may participate in a test of the same learning resource. Not only does this provide great feedback to the company, it also helps institutions by sharing best practice and insight.

It is vital to discuss and agree expectations for the test and to match them against the educator’s needs in the classroom. Testing companies will choose one or more predetermined use cases for their resource. Not only does this help provide a common thread throughout all tests, it also helps educators to provide specific and detailed feedback.

The main use cases are:

1. Students must learn subject content and work independently with the help of the learning resource.
2. The learning resource must support and develop students’ skills, abilities and competencies.
3. Can every educator create their own subject-specific content that, alongside the learning resource, might be used in their lessons?
4. The educator gets support in managing their ongoing assessments and in documenting student progress by using the learning resource.

Use cases 1-4 above can also be adapted for testing in preschool.
For adult education, vocational and higher education, use cases 5 and 6 may also apply.


5. The digital learning resource should be able to be used with other tools to deliver remote or online-only teaching.
6. The digital learning resource should be accessible for all students to use independently and with only limited support from the educator.

Document name
Contract template
Checklist

This is where the fun begins! The test should take place in regular teaching with children, students or other participants.

During the test, our support cards can be used to help testing educators / institutions to maintain a consistent focus throughout the test. They directly connect to the specific use case for which the digital learning resource has been designed. The cards’ questions help both companies and educators to critically examine, evaluate and plan future developments on the basis of pedagogical impact.

The testing company should visit those educators conducting the test in their teaching environment at least once during the test period. The visit can take place either virtually or face-to-face. Such conversations are incredibly valuable for both companies and educators. We strongly encourage both parties to also make time for detailed feedback and follow-up meetings.

Document:
Preschool
Support cards 1-4 for preschool
School and university
Support card 1 – Subject content
Support card 2 – Skills and abilities
Support card 3 – Using your own teaching material
Support card 4 – Assessment and documenting progress
Adult education
Support card 5 – Teaching online or remotely
Support card 6 – Working independently
Exit ticket
Protokoll

When the test is completed, it is time for the educators to provide their feedback and to evaluate the digital learning resource they have tested.

Educators will make their evaluation based on questions relating to the specific use case of the digital learning resource. The evaluation generates a detailed test report that can then be used by the company to inform future product development or as a basis for more in-depth conversations with participating educators

Edtest also recommends that educators and institutions share the evaluation report with colleagues to support best practice and continuing internal professional development. The report is not published without the consent of both the testing company and testing educators.

Supporting material
Download reaction words as pdf – A document to stimulate conversations between companies and educators as well as between educators and students.
Download follow-up as pdf – Suggestions for workshop questions to use in follow-up conversations.

When all stages in the Edtest programme have been completed, participating educators and companies will be awarded a diploma.

Being certified by Edtest demonstrates your active involvement in evaluating and testing digital teaching resources, and in sharing best practice / knowledge about their use in education.

If you are an educator, the diploma demonstrates that:

• You have worked to improve your teaching with the help of digital learning resources.
• You have improved your ability to choose the digital learning resources and tools that best fit your teaching plans and which can best help improve your students' learning outcomes.
• You have developed your own and your students' digital skills.
• ou have increased your knowledge about the use of digital learning resources in the modern classroom.

If you are an EdTech company, it shows that

• You have worked through the Edtest programme to better understand the real challenge educators face.
• You have listened to and taken on board the feedback from the educators who tested your product.
• Your product has been carefully developed to meet the genuine needs of Swedish educators.

Building world-class digital education
Everyone who participates in the Edtest programme helps make our test method more robust and valid. Every completed evaluation and test also helps increase our knowledge of the role of digital learning resources in education.
This is clearly vitally important to drive long-term improvement in the quality of digital learning resources and to improve the development process behind them. All of these factors combine to create the necessary conditions for building a world-class EdTech ecosystem in Sweden and across the Nordic countries.