Research

Latest Ed Tech Landscape Map Adds 6 Product Categories

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 07/08/19

Diagramming the flavors of technology in higher education comprehensively could result in a complex atlas. "Companies make conflicting claims about their products, many products have overlapping functionality and it is not always clear what different product types mean," as research firm Eduventures (a division of Encoura) pointed out in the leadup to its latest "landscape map." This year's map covers 41 different "segments," from advancement constituent relationship management and application development tools to social media and web content management programs, tucked inside four primary categories of products:

• Admissions and enrollment management;
• Advancement;
• Student success and instruction; and
• College-wide IT and enterprise backbone solutions.

The results have emphasized an "increased focus" on setting up teaching and learning ecosystems that are "future-proof" — accommodating both in-class and online models and support for "formal and informal learning."

This year's map has added six new segments:

• Application development, including platform-as-a-service;
• Course evaluation, which helps schools use the data generated from evaluations for improving "course design and delivery";
• Curriculum management, which covers "development, analysis, evaluation and approval" of content for education;
• Digital credentials;
• Identity and access management, which help IT to control access to system resources for the appropriate people and roles; and
• Student journey management, addressing the student lifecycle in terms of "academic achievement, advising, career readiness, campus life and financial aid."

What's omitted from the map is a shorter list, consisting primarily of groupings of companies that provide services rather than products:

• Scholarship management;
• Lead aggregation services;
• Online program management (OPM) operations;
• Website development; and
• "One-stop shop solutions."

As Eduventures noted in an explanation about why OPMs were being excluded from the tech landscape, service companies combine "activities and tools to deliver value"; presumably, since the tools being used would already surface in other segments, that could be considered a form of double-dipping.

One segment has morphed into a new one: Online proctoring has evolved into the "assessment integrity" grouping.

Soon, the company will issue its "2019 Higher Education Technology Landscape Report" for subscribers. In the meantime, the landscape map is available with registration on the Encoura website.