EdTech Can Improve Teaching and Learning, But More Strategic Thinking is Needed
Advocates of EdTech see it as the future of education, but forcing it on schools before everyone is on board will just disenfranchise some teachers. We need a smarter way to implement it, says Gary Spracklen…
You just have to look at the excitement at Bett in January – where I took to the stage to talk about the ways classroom technology is changing the way we teach and collaborate at The Prince of Wales School in Dorchester – and the talks and workshops at Digifest, to see that in 2018, there is a growing sense of positivity about EdTech.
This is welcome to someone like me, a self-professed advocate for the positive role technology can play in education. However, it’s also a good time to push onwards and question just how far the echoes of these set piece events will be felt if not built upon.
Naturally, the awareness of and responsibility for classroom tech often stops with those who already have a strong interest in technology – perhaps even a personal crusade of one passionate staff member.
Where there are only a handful of staff who are actively involved with sourcing classroom tech, we don’t take into account the concerns and thoughts of the teachers who might be reluctant to engage, or who only see another fad using up their precious time rather than having clear benefits to pedagogy and student success.
This disenfranchisement can sabotage tech before it’s even been used.
And this isn’t just an issue that is confined to schools – it comes down from government too. Recently, VLE provider Canvas brought together teachers, industry figures and journalists for a round table adding to the Driving Digital Strategy in Schools report.
The discussion and report posed the question on whether schools could benefit from more guidance from government on buying and using EdTech, and how more collaboration could help.
The consensus they all reached mirrored my own view – that too often, government consultations and outreach on EdTech is leaving a lot of opinions from more sceptical or uncertain teachers and leaders unheard by focusing on the more techy schools and staff.
As such, any future digital strategy for education will be missing the valuable input these views can offer – after all, the success of technology lives and dies on getting that widespread investment from a critical mass of teachers.
Helping schools avoid tech gore horror stories
Why does what the government says or thinks matter though and what good will this do in practice?
Simply put, a digital strategy would be a foundation to help us meet challenges in teaching, both now and in the future.
For all the excitement around whizzy new devices, at the end of the day, technology should be just another tool that helps us deliver high-quality teaching and learning, ensuring the education our students receive is the very best it can be.
Now, I’m an unashamedly nerdy headteacher; one of those who are shouting at the DfE (and anyone else who will listen) that we should be taking the role of tech in education more seriously.
But it’s much harder to build that culture and see the benefits if you’re at a school where there is less enthusiasm among SLT, little expertise to call upon from teaching staff, and – the kicker – no support or framework from government for when you’re not sure.
This is how we end up with the kind of horror stories that stay with teachers and schools for years to come – where technology has been brought in in a piecemeal fashion, and where the sheer range of platforms and devices we see at the likes of Bett or hear about at Digifest overwhelm decision makers.
Step one on the way to seamless tech
Without solid guidance, it’s hard to know what will most effectively meet the needs of your students and teachers, and it means tech is not effective or just plain not used, wasting money and energy.
A strategy is a first step, then – a way to start building for the future.
It can’t automatically instil that culture of innovative pedagogy – and efficiency in admin – across your entire school, but it gives you a framework so that whatever your background or expertise level, you can tailor solutions to the needs of your students and staff.
I believe that to succeed, technology in the classroom needs to be like electricity. Always there, always available. Instant and seamless. And for that to happen, a lot of strategic groundwork is needed.
As teachers, leaders, government and businesses, let’s work together to make it happen, for the sake of generations of young people to come.
Gary Spracklen is the headteacher at The Prince of Wales School in Dorchester, a director at the Association For Learning Environments (A4LE) and former Digital Educator of the Year. He is also a member of the UK Government’s Education Technology Action Group.
