Is edtech a 'thing' yet? An M&A analyst I was chatting to recently, concluded that, from a financial point of view, it wasn't. For him, edtech - or 'educational technology' - was still a drop in the ocean.

The conversation got me thinking. How should we value edtech (vote here)? If we do so on purely financial terms, it remains largely insignificant. So, should we instead value edtech from a Government point of view - in terms of an exportable service or a platform to maintain our economic competitiveness on a digital stage - or is it a social impact valuation based on increasing access to learning?

Furthermore, is there an opportunity cost to edtech? That is, if we don’t spend on it we fall behind and if we do spend on it, are we allocating budget away from teacher professional development or other useful investments?

Given the potential of edtech, and the rapid developments in the industry, these are questions that need answering. So, on the evening of 19 June, we held a live podcast recording in partnership with Nesta - 'Is Edtech a thing (yet)?'

During the evening, we asked questions, including:

• How should we value edtech?
• Is word of mouth a problem or a natural filtering system? Do we need something more sophisticated to identify true value?
• How do we protect the value of edtech, but also the value of our data? Do we need to be conscious that the value of edtech is sometimes hidden in ‘tangential services’?
• Is there an opportunity cost to edtech? Does it risk being an additional time waste for educators?

In a week when there will be much talk about the financial valuation of edtech, this event broadened the conversation on any valuation of edtech.

Nesta and The Edtech Podcast hosted a live podcast recording on 19 June, addressing key issues in edtech valuation and investments. It will be available via iTunes and android on The Edtech Podcast. 

Vote in our poll: