In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course, many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. In this particular installment, we are talking to leaders of Education Technology companies, who share how their tech is helping to improve our educational system. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nikki Eatchel.
Nikki Eatchel is Prometric’s Chief Assessment Officer. With more than 25 years of knowledge and experience in comprehensive assessment design and delivery, psychometric analysis and reporting, and global testing strategy, she leads the Test Development Services consulting practice to ensure the delivery of quality assessments and psychometric services to Prometric clients and oversee the growth and innovation strategy across exam products.
Ms. Eatchel has served in executive level positions in a number of global assessment organizations. Most recently, prior to joining Prometric, she served as the Chief Learning Officer at a virtual reality organization designed to provide immersive, simulated practice and candidate evaluation for essential skills in the workplace. She is active in numerous industry associations and served as Chair of the Board for the Association of Test Publishers in 2017, as well as chairing the ATP Security Committee from 2011–2014. She has presented over 60 papers and presentations at such conferences as the ATP, E-ATP, CCSSO, IPMA, ATD, and CLEAR.
Ms. Eatchel holds a Master’s in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from California State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University of California at Davis.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I originally grew up in Northern California between Sacramento and San Franciso, playing various sports and with a deep love of music. I was teaching martial arts while in graduate school until my advisor told me it was “time to get a real job.” So, I got my first position in the assessment industry with a small assessment firm that focused on pre-employment assessments and employment litigation support. From there I was hooked, and I’ve worked in assessment and education ever since.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
It’s difficult to choose just one, but the most unexpected day was standing on an airport runway (waiting to board a small plane) when a jeep pulled up to me and my colleague and took our luggage. They were hoping to get to the assessment materials inside (back when assessment reviews were not yet fully supported with technology and were still sometimes done on physical paper). My colleague ran after them, jumped in the jeep, and they all drove off. I saw the jeep stop a distance down the runway and after a few minutes my colleague was walking back to the plane with our luggage. It all ended positively, but it was quite an experience. It was a moment that certainly underscored the power of technology to support organizations through more efficient and secure processes. More importantly, it also demonstrated that when opportunity is scarce, it understandably and predictably drives desperation for those who need opportunity the most.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
On a personal level it is my husband, Tony Eatchel. He has been with me from almost the very start of my career and has provided me with the partnership and support that allowed me to embrace my passions, my career, and my desire to be drive positive change in both my professional and personal life.
On a professional level, I have been very fortunate to have both male and female mentors — including Kevin Brueggeman and Susan Davis-Ali — both of whom are former bosses, and both had confidence in my ability to lead and provided me with opportunities to do so early and often. However, I would also say the amazing people that I have worked with as colleagues and clients throughout my career have contributed to my success and allowed me to evolve as a person. I cannot imagine that I would have achieved success if I had not been lucky enough to be in environments that exposed me to such a wide variety of professions, talent, experience, and backgrounds.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
It’s a quote that I love from Leslie Cornfeld, National Education Equity Labs and often repeated by Prometric’s Chairman of the Board, Sandy Ogg.
“Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”
I think it is extremely easy to make assumptions about the specificity of talent without considering how opportunity impacts it. If we want to drive toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; if we want to drive forward the best solutions, innovations, and technologies; we must keep this quote in mind and create products, services, and solutions that are aimed at creating equitable opportunity. The talent is there, it just needs the opportunity.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Flexibility: People underestimate the importance of flexibility, flexibility in approach and flexibility in opinion. I think I am flexible in both arenas, and it has served me well. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have strong beliefs, but it does mean that I am open to listening, learning, and being flexible when evolution and change serves me and others well.
The most recent examples are the capability to rethink the development, delivery, and support of educational activities with advanced technologies. The introduction of artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies has meant a re-evaluation of every existing process. Without flexibility in thought processes, design, deployment, and industry best practices, we would lose out on the capability of better serving students, educators, and the industries that rely on incoming talent.
Humility: I don’t believe my value is being the smartest person in the room — and I don’t believe I’ve ever been in a room where I thought that was the case. I cannot begin to quantify the benefits that I have been afforded when I have led with humility and the assumption that the people I come across (in board rooms, conferences calls, airports, living rooms, etc.) have something unique and powerful to offer, if I’m just willing to listen.
Example: I think working in an industry such as educational technology and assessment means that you are always walking into a room where you are not the subject-matter expert. As a result, it forces a sense of humility and an approach that is conscientious in ensuring that the industry experts remain at the core of what is produced. Without humility regarding one’s role, the result could easily be one that does not serve the right purpose — which reduces the likelihood of success and increases the likelihood that your impact does not match your intent.
Fortitude: My most common phrase at work is “we will figure it out.” The size of the problem and the complication in addressing the issue rarely discourages me — because I have the faith and the fortitude in the ability of good people to do good work. When it comes to being a successful business leader, I have found that when you have faith in people and push forward with fortitude despite the challenges that come your way, people will have more belief and strength in their themselves and their ability to create change, solve problems, and evolve products and processes. That’s when the magic happens.
Example: Years ago, I was working on a project in the Middle East with Mohammad Shadid, CEO of ConnecME, and he had a goal to offer the benefits of computer-based testing to student populations that did not have consistent or reliable internet access — to ensure better equity and inclusion. I know that seems like an obvious problem to solve now, but at the time it was very difficult to ensure seamless testing for students without WiFi (and without storing secure testing content on-site, which violated the desired security protocols). Despite the long list of obstacles that came our way, our organizations deployed technology that allowed for all students have the same assessment experience without internet access and for educational stakeholders to get valuable data and information to help support their schools and their students in a secure and reliable manner.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our educational systems. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?
One-Size-Fits-All Education: Educators have long known that students learn in a variety of ways and need different types of educational support to meet their full potential. Unfortunately, educational tools and technology have historically failed to adequately address those differences both effective and manageable when supporting large numbers of students.
Singular Pathways to Proficiency: Traditionally, measurements of proficiency of have been focused on evaluation of knowledge (and unfortunately, often knowledge associated with lower cognitive levels such as recall). Opportunities to demonstrate attainment of specified skills and abilities have been left out of the equation, which creates as situation where holistic evaluation and support of student talent is not possible.
Talent Gaps: Current educational pathways are leading to talent gaps within the industries in which those students will seek to be employed.
How do you think your technology can address this?
One-Size-Fits-All Education: Technology now allows us to provide tools to educators, students, and lifelong learners that supports individualized learning pathways. Prometric Boost uses AI technology and content developed and tagged with the assistance of AI tools to create educational and evaluation environments that are tailored to the needs of the learner, versus following a pre-set path that may be helpful for some students but not others.
Singular Pathways to Proficiency: Prometric’s tools (Finetune Generate and Catalog) that leverage AI and large language models (LLMs) to create and classify educational content allows for increased options for student support — not simply focusing on traditional knowledge, but also homing in on skills and abilities that represent a holistic view of student proficiency and support needs.
Talent Gaps: Preparing students for the future of work is a critical part of any educational process, and there is a significant talent shortage that is impacting a wide variety of markets. Prometric can help educational institutions provide learning and evaluation tools in new and non-traditional environments (e.g., live labs, virtual reality, augmented reality, etc.). With new, more authentic tools that provide visibility into career skills and abilities, educational institutions can better prepare their students for the future workforce.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about education?
My life was certainly changed by having access to educational opportunities and a variety of pathways to show my strengths. While I always did well in school, it was the rare opportunity to demonstrate the practical application of knowledge and skills that I found most compelling and interesting. That is what led me into a profession that is designed to provide different avenues for learning and demonstration of different proficiencies. Its not one pathway that leads to successful contributions to society — there is a vast abundance of pathways and it’s our job to help make them accessible to as many people as possible.
How do you think this might change the world?
Providing opportunity for people to learn and to demonstrate their expansive knowledge, skills, and abilities in a variety of ways will create a better environment for change and innovation. Assuming one type of learning pathway or one type of performance captures the wide variety of talent that exists is a bad assumption and one that can drastically limit the contributions of so many people. Expanding those options and opportunities can change the game. And if you change the game, you change the world.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I think as all technology advances, not just ours, there are considerations that should stay top of mind, including:
Security and Data Privacy: Advanced technologies that require the collection and storage of personal data also require protection of user data and data misuse. If the appropriate security protocols are not designed, implemented, and maintained then users of that technology can be negatively impacted.
Persistence of Human Insight: The use of AI in isolation, particularly when impactful decisions are being made about individuals, can unintentionally have the opposite impact of our desired intentions. Ensuring that humans continue to be involved in the determination and oversight of those decisions is important to ensure solutions are deployed and evolved in an ethical and responsible manner for the benefit (not detriment) of the population.
Inequity and Access: As with most things in life, we have to assume that technological advancements will not benefit everyone equally. There could be a digital divide where certain populations or regions lack access to essential technologies due to economic disparities or inadequate infrastructure, which would exacerbating existing social inequalities. Viewing technology with a critical eye toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is a must.
Considering these potential issues, among others, it’s crucial to approach technological advancements thoughtfully, implementing safeguards and ongoing evaluations. In addition, as technologies are made available to the general public, particularly in the education arena, training stakeholders on the responsible and ethical use of those tools has to be step one.
How do you envision the landscape of education evolving over the next decade, and how does your technology fit into that future?
The landscape of education is likely to continue to undergo significant changes over the next decade due to the ongoing integration of advanced technology and evolving pedagogical approaches. To name a few:
Increased Personalization: To meet student needs, education will become more personalized, catering more closely to individual learning styles, paces, and preferences (this will be acutely required for adult learners). Adaptive platforms and AI-driven tools will provide even more customized learning experiences tailored to each learner’s needs.
Hybrid Learning Models: The future of education will likely blend traditional classroom settings with online and remote learning. While this approach certainly became more prevalent post-pandemic, offerings were typically an adaptation of existing in-classroom models. I believe the assumptions will shift from the very design stage, resulting in educational programs that are designed from the beginning for hybrid approaches that take advantage of the benefits to be gained from each modality.
Emphasis on Skills Development: There will be a greater focus on teaching adaptable skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence alongside traditional academic subjects. This focus on skills will help to prepare students for rapidly changing job markets and support lifelong learning and upskilling as desperately needed across industries.
Technology Integration: Classrooms will eventually increase technology tools such as AI-driven tutoring, virtual reality, augmented reality, gamified learning platforms, and interactive digital content to enhance the learning experience and increase effectiveness.
As for the role of our technology, I see it impacting education in a variety of ways, including:
AI-Supported Education: AI technologies, like Finetune Catalog, can help to quickly and efficiently classify massive amounts of content so that it can support personalized learning and be automatically linked to evolving educational standards. Finetune Generate can help create novel content (with the use of large language models) and ensure that the new content is accurate (without hallucinations), linked to educational standards and personalized learning curriculums, and supports fair and valid evaluations and feedback. Prometric Boost provides personalized learning support for students, fueled by the content and classifications provided by Generate and Catalog.
Skill-Based Assessments: Prometric has a variety of tools for advanced skill training and evaluation that supports students in gaining and demonstrating proficiency in areas that are critical for career pathways, leveraging advanced technologies in AI and VR.
Remote Assessment Environments: As students across the globe are seeking opportunities to learn and demonstrate proficiency quickly and conveniently, Prometric provides a variety of options to access curriculum and demonstrate proficiency through low, mid, and high stakes assessments.
While I am incredibly proud to be associated with such great innovations, it’s important to note that while technology can greatly enhance education, its role should complement and support human educators rather than replace them. The successful integration of technology in education will require thoughtful implementation, continual assessment, and adaptation to ensure it maximizes learning outcomes while addressing potential challenges and disparities.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
There are many phenomenal resources in the industry that would have a lot to say about this question, but from my personal experience, creating technology with a positive social impact requires a thoughtful and conscientious approach, including the following:
Understanding the Problem: To create technology that makes a positive social impact, it’s crucial to deeply understand the problem you are aiming to solve. To do that you need to engage with community impacted by the issue and include a diverse set of stakeholders that represent the various dimensions of diversity in the area or industry your solution is targeting.
Human-Centered Design: Implement an approach from the beginning (and throughout) that prioritizes the needs, behaviors, and experiences of the end-users. Involve stakeholders in each step of the design process, particularly when AI technology will be implemented, to ensure solution impact matches intent. Regular user testing and feedback loops are critical to ensuring a product that addresses the identified problem.
Ethical Considerations: Consider the ethical implications of the technology throughout its development and deployment. Privacy, security, and data protection measures should be considered and implemented in the design from the outset. Include human insight when assessing potential biases in the training and deployment of AI algorithms and be transparent with users about how the technology was built and the ongoing oversight that should be expected by end users and stakeholders.
Evolve the Role of Educators: Leverage the expertise of educators. As the role of educators shift and they become even more focused on facilitation, mentoring, and guiding students through personalized learning journeys, their expertise on the types of tools and support that are needed to provide the best possible education to their ever-changing student populations will make any technology more effective.
Test Assumptions: With the dramatic changes happening in technology, education, and the industry that will employ students in the future, making assumptions about product needs and desired solutions will likely result in a missed opportunity. Test your assumptions along the way, not just with some stakeholders, but also with end users directly (particularly students). What was a helpful approach yesterday, may not be the best approach today.
In the realm of EdTech, there’s often data collection involved. How do you ensure the ethical handling of user data, especially when it concerns students?
Ethical handling of user data, particularly concerning student data, is of the utmost importance. Again, there is much to be covered here, but below are the top five that come to mind:
Transparency and Consent: Be transparent about what data is being collected and why. When obtaining parental consent for collection of data, explain the purpose explicitly, the various uses of the data, and if any third parties will have access.
Data Minimization: Collect only the necessary data required for the functioning of the technology and eliminate extraneous data points. Specifically minimize gathering of sensitive information and ensure any sensitive information that is captured is necessary for the learning experience.
Anonymization and Encryption: Anonymize or pseudonymize student data wherever possible and ensure robust encryption methods are used to protect data during storage and transmission.
Security Measures and Compliance Regulations: Implement strong security measures to protect against unauthorized access of information or cyberattacks and adhere to relevant privacy regulations (e.g., FERPA, GDPR, etc.).
Limit Third-Party Access: Restrict access to student data to only essential third parties and ensure adherence to data protection ad privacy standards.
By prioritizing ethical considerations, EdTech providers can create a safer and more trustworthy environment for students, educators and parents while leveraging the many advantages that technology has to offer in enhancing the educational experience for students.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them.
Don’t be intimated by the terms “environment or societal impact.” Those terms feel very big, but small actions can have a big impact. So, don’t be afraid to jump in and get started.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
In the realm of education and AI, there are a number of people that I would love to have a private meeting with to learn more about their perspectives, but if I had to pick one, I would say Dr. Fei-Fei Li is at the top of my list. Her brilliant work in computer vision and image recognition is so impressive, as is her advocacy for ethical and responsible development of AI. Her efforts and personal impact in driving representation and inclusion in AI research is extremely impressive and has already resulted in a more diverse and equitable AI community. One of her great quotes states “AI education and literacy are essential for everyone. We need to empower individuals with the knowledge and skills to navigate the AI-driven world.” That is a person that I would love to know.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-eatchel/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Media Contact
Meg Roe
Prometric
610.256.0271