This session will explore some of the questions emerging in the current discussions of evidence and research in schools, framed around the three trials Nesta have been conducting into the effectiveness of education technology. Since January Nesta have been exploring promising approaches to using technology and asking the hard question of whether they live up to potential. Along the way we have learned about the appropriateness of different types of research for different interventions, what schools get out of being a part of research, and the importance of building in research and evaluation from the very design of an intervention.