What does it mean to go open source in EdTech?

This blog shares insights from a conversation between EdTech Hub’s Lea Simpson and EIDU’s Bernd Roggendorf as they explored the question: Can open-source unlock scalable solutions for EdTech?

Setting the scene

Under a “business as usual” scenario, current trends suggest we are decades away from achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which is ‘to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all‘.

If you work in global education there are almost certainly times when this feels like a humungous gap to bridge. So if there’s one thing that stands out to me from my conversation with EIDU Founder and CTO, Bernd Roggendorf about the company’s decision to go open-source, it’s not the logic of the decisions or the details on how it will work in practice, but rather, how unusually they seem to think of the challenge itself. In particular, I was left thinking about a couple of long held beliefs that Bernd flipped on their head.

🌍 We are more alike than different 

While context matters and localisation is important for the education programme scale, I agree with Bernd when he says that we have more in common. Does this belief in exceptionalism hold the education sector back? I’ll let you decide for yourself. 

🌱 Scaling government systems is “easy”

Can open-source crack the code for scaling EdTech? by EdTech Hub

I have worked in the tech x-sector for two decades and find scaling education technology has a number of peculiar challenges. The buyer and user are different, scaling through government systems that are often federated means needing to do one deal at a time with each district and the margins are tiny if you want to reach poorer learners. Instead, Bernd described scaling EdTech as “easy”. Partnering with the education system isn’t just a challenge; it’s also an opportunity for instant scale. After all, the government is already reaching the masses. 

Closing thoughts

There’s much more I could share from my conversation with Bernd, but instead, I’d love for you to watch the session recording. We’re also continuing the conversation, watching and learning from EIDU’s experience as they open-source their product. Let’s see how it goes, if one thing is certain it’s that business as usual has us lagging, perhaps this rather unusual take is exactly what we need.