Consumer Guides

These simple and easy-to-use Consumer Guides (PDF) are decision support tools to help school administrators and educational technology vendors learn what questions to ask and how to make informed decisions relating to education technology. School administrators can use this tool as a one-stop resource to becoming an informed and empowered consumer of educational and assistive technology and to help find the appropriate educational technologies to address a variety of needs. The educational technology vendors section provides vendors a tool to help navigate the shifting demands of the educational marketplace and understand — as well as meet — the concerns and needs of purchasers.

The Guides provide assistance in the following five areas:

Alignment of standards and curriculum goals;
Implementation of technologies;
Scientifically-based research;
Funding for purchasing educational technology; and
Legislative mandates such as IDEA and NCLB.

Become an Informed Consumer

Are you in a position to request or recommend technology purchases? Learn how to be an informed consumer, with an understanding of the leverage points in district administrations as well as with vendors. Based on interviews with over 50 administrators, this free, archived webinar presentation, Technology Decision Makers Hold the Keys to Successful Implementation, provides you with strategic information about making decisions related to technology.

Learn How to Use Market Research

Read this article online by the collaborating team that produced the Consumer Guides to learn how to conduct and use market research to create new solutions. Understanding Consumer Needs Through Market Research (PDF) - Overton, C., Volkman, C., Silver-Pacuilla, H., & Gray, T. (2008). Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, 5(1), 4-18.

Abstract
The purpose of the Understanding Consumer Needs Through Market Research article (PDF) is to demonstrate how existing market research in the assistive technology (AT) field can be leveraged to create new solutions and to help those solutions reach wider markets. To do so, we discuss market research projects, focusing on seminal activities that have occurred in the assistive and learning technology field; present a collaborative market research activity involving the National Center for Technology Innovation and AbleNet®, Inc.; and offer suggestions for how an organization with little or no experience with market research can initiate such activities. As demonstrated in this article, findings deriving from market research activities can be used to benefit individual corporations responsible for conducting market research as well as the broader AT community.

The TechMatrix contains information from other public and private organizations that may be useful to the reader; these materials are merely examples of resources that may be available. Inclusion of this information does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any products or services offered or views expressed. This publication also contains hyperlinks and URLs created and maintained by outside organizations and provided for the reader's convenience. The Department is not responsible for the accuracy of this information.