Are you embracing edtech in your school?

So, with pressure to invest in teacher training or recruitment, when is the right time to invest in edtech?

The classroom of the future?

Many will remember their own days at school when an overhead projector was seen as innovative technology. Now the possibilities are endless, with artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) even threatening the role of teachers in the classroom.

Dr David Kellerman, an academic at New South Wales University in Sydney, created a question bot capable of answering questions on its own to delivering a video of previous lectures or lessons. The bot can also flag students’ questions for teaching assistants to follow up. The bot will keep getting better at its job as it is exposed to more and different questions over time.

While the role of teachers is not under threat for the foreseeable future, a number of new technologies have emerged in recent years which are already having a significant impact on learning. The popularity of iPads in the classroom has continued, with access to a tablet now commonplace in many schools, enabling pupils to complete exercises as lessons take place. Platforms like GCSEPod can even ease teachers' workloads by encouraging independent learning, it's like students have a digital tutor in their pocket. 

Tech that allows greater collaboration between teachers can maximise learning outcomes and enable schoool staff to focus on what they love most about their jobs.

Blended learning

The Coronavirus pandemic put edtech firmly in the spotlight, with a study by Texthelp and ImpactEd shining a light on a ‘Zoom boom’ across the education sector, with a 158% global surge of edtech tool downloads in March 2020.

As we look ahead to the long-term future of teaching and learning, many experts believe that a ‘blended learning’ approach will become all but necessary in the future.

With students and staff forced to study and work from home throughout the pandemic, many schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) utilised tech such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to continue delivering the curriculum.

This forced switch to home learning accelerated calls for the wider use of blended learning, a combination of online and face-to-face learning, in the future. A blended approach to learning could help teachers to think outside the box when delivering the curriculum, as well as tailoring their methods to individual students.

Teacher wellbeing is a critical issue for schools and the pandemic has only served to highlight its importance. Reinforcing more positive working practices, such as enabling more flexible hours, can go a long way to improving the happiness and wellbeing of staff.

This is, of course, just one vision of the future of education. There are many more, but schools will never realise any vision of the technology-enabled future if they fail to invest in the right technologies.

Each school or MAT is different and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing edtech in the classroom. Developing a plan that suits the strategy, goals and culture of your organisation is the only way to approach edtech investment.

Communicating across the school community

Teachers talking to students, teachers talking to parents, teachers talking to other teachers - these different routes of communication all make for the smoother running of schools and they can all help boost educational outcomes. Platforms like My School Portal can give a boost to these routes and help teachers and school leaders communicate in new and more meaningful ways.

A study by the Department for Education and Skills showed a direct correlation between a parent’s involvement in their child’s education and their academic success, even after accounting for family size, family background and parent education level. The same study also found that 72% of parents wanted more involvement in their child’s education.

Regular and consistent communication with parents in undoubtedly a key factor in a school’s success, and many are now turning to Zoom and even WhatsApp to keep parents up-to-date with news and events.

Communication between staff is also critical to achieving key learning outcomes, with the use of tools like Access Workspace for Education enabling configurable noticeboards to display news, updates and key information, as well as straightforward communication and project management tools.

As Claire O'Brien, Finance Manager at Children First Academy Trust, explained in a recent blog, Workspace means, “you can easily assign tasks, roles and reminders to members of the team, alongside simple instructions or contact details, should they encounter any issues. This functionality has proved useful for the finance team especially, as I’ve been able to add reminders around best practice and key deadlines to make sure the streamlined ways of working implemented during lockdown continue into the new term.”

Increasing efficiencies

At Access Education, we are firm believers in technology’s ability to ramp up efficiency. In the back office, where this technology can have the biggest impact, cloud-based software packages like Access Education’s range of cloud-based solutions are helping schools to be more agile and responsive.

Our core Education Finance and Budgeting solutions promote greater efficiencies in performing key financial management activities and Access Education People provides a comprehensive framework for managing the people within your schools and academies.

While the huge range of choice in edtech products makes finding the right system a daunting prospect, our experts are on hand to help you implement the best solution for your school academy or trust and deliver ongoing training, providing the freedom for you to focus on delivering the best education possible.