The post-pandemic international reports paint a bleak picture of EdTech’s impact: many popular EdTech breached Data Protection laws and have little to no analysis of their learning impact on children. National reports from England show that EdTech research is fragmented nationally and internationally. Different countries have different requirements for EdTech evidence. USA set out ESSA standards of efficacy, with randomised controlled trials as the highest to demonstrate evidence. The World Bank and UNICEF’s catalogue of "Smart Buys" categorises EdTech according to an expert synthesis of qualitative and quantitative studies. In Scandinavian and some other European countries, the benchmarks are set by teachers and municipalities. The absence of global quality benchmarks for EdTech undermines EdTech learning impact and design innovation. Natalia has actively sought solutions to this complex global problem. She has been advocating for high-quality EdTech for children and has contributed to the EdTech evidence movement in the capacity of an EdTech enterpreneur, consultant and scientific advisor.
Academic Enterpreneurship
Natalia co-founded and currently leads the company WiKIT AS from the University of Stavanger’s Valide Incubator, which offers research consultancy services to companies in Europe and Scandinavia. Wikit AS employs researchers to conduct evaluation studies and support EdTech companies, municipalities and government organisations in evidence-based decision-making.
Advisory services
Natalia has served on several advisory boards for scientific research projects that address diverse learning needs in both qualitative and quantitative EdTech evaluation studies (e.g. ‘Systematic review and content analysis of educational maths apps with young children’ funded by the Nuffield Foundation). She also advises on national learning frameworks (e.g. the Reading for Pleasure Framework spearheaded by the UK-based charity The Reading Agency) and EdTech tools developed by international organisations (e.g. the language app Mimi & Co funded by Save The Children).
Advocacy
Natalia is an active ambassador for evidence-based, rigorous evaluation studies of EdTech and has written a number of Op-Eds, blogs and popular scientific articles advocating for rigorous analysis of children's EdTech, with suggestions for national certification models,an open data repository system for EdTech research and greater collaboration in the ecosystem of researchers, teachers and designers to work together for better EdTech for all children.
Consultancy
Natalia has undertaken consultancy projects for EdTech companies targeting pre-school children (e.g. Pibbon Ltd, which develops apps for children’s personalized learning). Natalia has been a LEAP Fellow (Jacobs Foundation & MiT Solve) since 2021. Prior to that, she was an academic mentor for Zinc VC . She has served as judge on various EdTech competition: In 2014, she was Vanguard for Xprize (Global Learning), in 2018, she was judge for Reimagine Education Awards, and in 2022, she was one of the judges for the LEAP/MiT Prize for EdTech companies.
