Learner Variability Certification

Our research on the Learner Variability Project has demonstrated the tremendous variability among learners. Without designing to reach the full diversity of learners, we risk creating inequitable solutions that support certain kinds of learners and not others, and widening opportunity gaps.

Edtech products designed to attend to learner variability are more likely to support the broad range of a learner’s strengths and challenges that can vary in different contexts and that create multiple opportunities for differentiation.

Certification Requirements

A product that earns this certification will provide evidence of the following:

1. A design plan or road map ties the product’s foundational philosophy to supporting the whole learner framework (personal background, social and emotional learning, cognition, and content area skills). The product demonstrates the ways in which it supports learners’ personal background, social and emotional learning, cognition, and content area skills by describing the experiences three different diverse learner personas have as they engage with the tool;
2. Students have voice and choice in the product—if students are the end users, they have the ability to adjust at least two features that impact learning by themselves to meet their varying needs. If educators are the end users, the tool provides strategies to help support the educator in creating more opportunities for learner agency;
3. Educators’ and learners’ feedback is directly incorporated in product updates to continuously ensure end users’ needs are met; and
4. The public has clear, easy access to information about how the product has been designed to support variation among learners.

This certification expires after two years. Earners are welcome to re-apply to retain certification status.

What other certifications are there? Learn about the Practitioner-Informed Design product certification here.