EdTech Hub Call for Concept Notes: Implementation research in new thematic areas

EdTech Hub is a global non-profit research partnership supported by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation, UNICEF, Canada's International Development Research Centre, and others. Our goal is to empower people making decisions about technology in education in LMICs. Technology has the potential to help address the global learning crisis, but that potential is not being realised. Policy makers and other decision makers face an overwhelming choice of technology solutions, are unclear on what works and what doesn't and are forced to make decisions based on low- or no-evidence. Further information about the Hub is available at https://edtechhub.org/ To further expand available evidence on the use of EdTech to support the most marginalised, the Hub will be launching a round of implementation research partnerships focusing on new thematic areas. These areas include: Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), education in emergencies, and education resilience against climate change.

Implementation research examines how interventions-policies, programs, or practices-are carried into effect. While established in fields like healthcare and poverty alleviation, it remains underexplored in EdTech, particularly in LMICs. This approach generates evidence in real-time, enhances scalability, and prioritizes sustainability, distinguishing itself from evaluation or design-based research.