It is 2017, four innovative schools were bumping into limitations of their learning platforms. They worked with Bob from their school network's innovation cell to create an innovative learning platform. When the concept was tested in 2019, 40 schools started using this platform. Then came Covid. Students working on the platform were found to be better prepared for self-regulated learning. But unfortunately, the project was eventually discontinued. For those 40 schools, that was a huge cold shower.  The enthusiasm of the early days became suspicion for innovation among a significant group of teachers from those schools. 

It is 2030, Bob is just about to start thinking about retirement ;-). Not that he longs for it, on the contrary, innovation is so much better today and the results are very nice. Meanwhile, there is a new approach in Belgium that has made Flanders and Belgium a global reference in well-organised educational innovation. 

On the technical front, boards, Bob and many edTech companies today have an integration platform (Connect-ED.tech, fictitious). This ensures that schools can easily join pilots, but also that the results become visible live. R&D can iterate faster to improve results, schools can make better decisions and choices. 

Connect-Ed.Tech did not get there overnight. First, it focused on frameworks for co-creation with the sector. Guidance services from the various education providers worked together on the conditions for such a pathway. The trajectory itself laid the bottom line in how schools can and want to deal with innovation. Thus, frameworks for innovation first emerged depending on the phase (ideation, concept test, pilots, implementation).it also quickly became clear that there was a need for an integration platform. The concept took shape as a PIO project in which EdTech, education providers and the government participated. It eventually became operational in 2025. Previously, developing and innovating for and with education was a jungle and sometimes valuable projects were lost too quickly after much blood sweat and tears. 

Today, education professionals immediately click on Connect-ed.tech when they want to tackle a challenge with technology. They can participate in ideation, concept testing, as a pilot school or wait for more mature solutions for implementation. For each scenario, there are clear frameworks that allow the expectations in the team to remain realistic and in terms of conditions for such processes to receive the necessary support.

One of the first four schools is just posting their story about a new tool (TimeTrack, fictitious). Bob sees a picture of the team and some students during a design session. A smile grows on his face that lingers for the rest of the day.