The Challenges of EdTech Development: Q&A With Todd Vaccaro of ClassLink

The X2 Mobile team was in London this June, attending the 2022 edition of EdTech Week, a fun event that consisted of 30+ talks that tackled the future of technology, education, and work. There were thousands of people in attendance, including ourselves, all curious to hear expert insights and opinions on where the EdTech industry is heading, and the challenges that it faces in this new, post-pandemic, digitalized world. 

We’re still processing all the information we absorbed during the event, and all the talks really inspired us to stop and think about the future of technology in education. We thought we’d play to our strengths, and turn to our own network of EdTech partners and professionals, to get their insights and their perspective on the current state of the industry. Our first guest is Todd Vaccaro, VP of Product Development at ClassLink. We’ve worked with ClassLink for a while now, on different projects like LaunchPad, Remote Login, ClassLink Analytics, and more, and we love to chat with them about all things EdTech-related. 

About our guest

A little bit of information about Tod before we get started. Todd Vaccaro is the VP of Product Development at ClassLink. Based in New York City, Todd is a product leader with a demonstrated history of defining, developing, and launching innovative products in the EdTech industry. He is a strong believer in prioritizing the user experience and making data-driven decisions. After working as a teacher and high school dean in Los Angeles, Todd made the move to NYC, where he kickstarted a long career that includes names like Wolters Kluwer, McGraw Hill, Macmillan, Watermark, and the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). He managed to take the time to answer our questions, so keep reading to get his insights into the state of EdTech today!

Todd Vaccaro

Q: First thing’s first, Todd. Tell us how you ended up working in the EdTech industry.

A: Well it’s a long story, but here it goes. I was working as a teacher in Los Angeles a while back, and I was the only one there who was also sidelining as a webmaster, to make some extra money. Teacher pay in the U.S. was not great back then, unfortunately, though not much has changed.

Then I became Acting Dean at Kayne Eras Center in Culver City, and that’s where I caught the computer lab teacher cutting students’ hair in the middle of the computer science class! I let him go, and the school principal then put me in charge of the computer lab. I then set it up properly, got new computers, hooked in WAN and LAN so that every room in the school had a computer, and that’s when I really saw the power that technology could have in the classroom. 

That’s really what first set me on my way. When I moved to New York City, I got a job at McGraw Hill. There, I handled a few different things, and one of them was a collaborative writing tool, where students and teachers could work together on essays. That project solidified my belief that technology could really help improve educational outcomes.

Q: Nice story! From our perspective, this is one of the challenges of the industry, the fact that it might be hard for some teachers to see the potential and opportunities in technology. What do you think were the top 3 challenges in the industry during these past two years? 

A: I would say that firstly, there is a digital divide between those who have the technology at home to continue their education outside the classroom, and those who don’t. That’s the first thing that should be addressed - accessibility. We have to make sure that everyone has access to hardware and software and of course, to a reliable internet connection. 

Secondly, teachers aren’t very well trained in how to use digital tools in a way that can help students and improve educational outcomes. There’s a gap there, because they are trained in how to teach face-to-face, and how to get through lesson plans. However, there are now so many other tools that can be used to elevate teaching methods, but the lack of training means that their use in those lesson plans gets ‘muddled.’ 

Lastly, I think that there is a need for curriculum design to take into account the different demographics of every class and school. We need to find a way to adjust the curriculum to improve outcomes in a timely manner. Schools craft curriculums for the entire year, and they don’t really ever break from that. But there are certain trends and changes that might take place throughout that year, and yet curriculum design is not able to keep up, it needs to be adjusted. Technology and software can pinpoint and predict trends and changes, and can help with that. 

Q: We can also look at these challenges as opportunities for the industry, right?

A: Definitely! These challenges open the door for innovation and improvement; we just need to be open and ready for it. 

Q: Then we’ll follow up with another question about the pandemic. It certainly helped the adoption of tech in education, since all of us were under full lockdowns and were forced to study and work from home for a while. But do you think that EdTech rose to the challenge? 

A: Hmm, good question. I would say that ClassLink has managed to rise to the challenge, but there is unfortunately still a long way to go for most companies across the board in this industry. 

Q: There’s been a lot of talk, in London as well, about how Covid helped push things forward in education and move it online. But having a class on Zoom and structuring it the exact same way as in the classroom doesn’t seem good enough. Is it enough to say that we digitized education by simply moving everything on Zoom? 

A: I definitely agree that that’s not enough. When I think of the future of education, I think of a ‘flipped classroom.’ By that I mean that you go home, listen or watch the lecture on a digital device, absorb the information, and then you come to school and work on the homework, with guidance from teachers. Basically, in-classroom work paired with at-home tech. That hasn’t happened yet, but I do believe that’s what the future holds. 

Q: Is that something that’s on the ClassLink roadmap? What is the focus for you in the next few years, if you can give us a sneak peek?

A: Unfortunately we’re not there yet, as we said. Our focus is elsewhere, anyway; we’re looking at ways to monitor and predict trends, to help school districts and schools make timely changes to their curriculum and their technology to better serve students. We’re also heavily focused on security, and cybersecurity, since that’s a big concern with digitalization, so a lot of our work is in that direction. 

We’re looking to increase our security measures while reducing the hurdles for the end users, and we’re exploring machine learning techniques that can help us facilitate that. The other thing is that we’re looking at ways to take all the ‘data exhaust,’ meaning all the data generated from our apps and the network traffic, and use it to provide useful insights for students, teachers, and districts. Basically analyzing big data to pinpoint trends and find ways to innovate and improve the educational process. 

Q: ClassLink has both web products and mobile applications. What do you think are the trends here in the education sector? The global trend is clearly to move towards mobile, but we know that education is a more rigid industry in this perspective. Is it taking any steps in that direction?

A: I think there are two sides to this. On the one hand, the hardware manufacturers need to have a subscription system, so that the hardware is always up to date. There are a lot of schools that have moved towards mobile, but they don’t have the budget to always keep devices and software up to date, and this is necessary to make processes fast and secure. 

On the other hand, digitalization benefits teachers the most, because they can walk around with a tablet that enables them to evaluate and capture things quickly. In the not-so-old days, teachers would have piles and piles of paperwork to go through on a daily basis. They had a lot of teacher planners, attendance lists, student notes and evaluations, and much more, and browsing through that is incredibly time-consuming. Now, they can keep records on a digital device and search through the content with just a few taps on a screen or keyboard. 

Q: Very well put. Now, where do you think innovation in EdTech will be coming from in the future? Innovation might be a very broad term, but it feels like there are so many new opportunities now in this space that can be tapped into. 

A: I believe innovation can come from all over, that’s why it’s important to watch trends and emerging technologies to be able to embrace any new opportunity. The biggest way to boost innovation, in my opinion, will be through machine learning; that will completely change the way we work, teach, and learn. 

Q: That’s very interesting. Let us ask you, if you could take a device from the present day back in time with you, to your school days, what would that device be?

A: Hmm, good question. I think it would have to be a tablet, or iPad, and a digital pencil. I use that a lot nowadays, because it’s incredibly convenient to take notes on the go and then be able to quickly search through those notes when I need to find something. 

Q: Same here, an iPad is definitely first on our list. Now we’re curious, what do you think about VR and AR in education? 

A: I think there’s definitely a place for it, like any tool, it definitely has a role to play. I can’t even begin to imagine some of the scientific experiments and explorations that could be done with these technologies! 

However, we have to be realistic and understand that there is a big hurdle in the way, and it comes down to costs. Only big-budget schools are going to be able to afford VR or AR equipment, so there is a big divide there. The large majority of schools at a global level don’t have huge budgets to work with, so I think it will be some time before AR/VR can become ubiquitous. But I definitely see a place for it, and if education keeps heading in the same, more digitized direction it’s heading towards now, it could play a much larger part. 

Q: So, we’ve been working together for some time now. How do you think X2 Mobile is contributing to ClassLink’s way of achieving your goals (if at all)? 

A: Well, let’s put it this way. Without X2 Mobile, there would be no mobile side to ClassLink. Besides that, what I’m always looking for is reliability, a solutions-oriented approach, and collaboration. I rely on X2 Mobile to provide these things, and so far, you’ve really risen to the challenge. 

Q: Well that’s great to hear! But where do you think our collaboration could use some improvement? 

A: I don’t think there’s anything on your part, but more on our side. We’d like to bring the X2 Mobile team into more of our team and planning meetings, and work with you to coordinate our boards and our strategies to get even better reporting. That’s the next thing on our list, to bring you guys into more of our planning meetings, so you can be part of the full process and have a full view of what we’re doing. 

Q: Finally, as a VP of Product Development, you could basically work in any industry on the product side. What keeps you in the education sector after all these years?

A: There are a lot of finance and advertising jobs that pay a lot more, no doubt about it! But what keeps me in education at the end of the day is that I’m working towards improving people’s lives, not only globally, but also locally. You can actually see the things you’ve been working on, see them at work, and see the way that people enjoy the results and your products. Helping people in a meaningful way, and contributing to something with a real impact in society is what keeps me going. 

Q: Thanks so much for your time, Todd, it’s been great catching up with you! 

A: Thanks for having me, good talk!