Schools ICT policy

• Article 4 of 15
• EducationInvestor, January 2012

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However, Ms Carr adds that “to what extent that will result in anything that will actually benefit industry immediately in terms of funding, I don’t know. I have my cynical view that schools will be given autonomy but there won’t be any money. Clearly, if we are to be using technology, there’s going to have to be funding and that’s not been mentioned in any conversations that we have had as an association.”

Lewis Bronze, chief executive and co-founder of Espresso Education, agrees that any new funding is unlikely to be forthcoming. “It’s a difficult economic time for the country. It would be stupid for ICT companies to be calling for special ring-fenced funds or injections of cash because there aren’t going to be any. We have to be realistic about the situation we’re in.”

One aspect of technology that Michael Gove himself mentioned in his speech and which could help to liberate funding from existing budgets is assessment technology, believes Jim Wynn of interactive whiteboard supplier Promethean. He argues that a large part of the £750m being spent on summative assessments is wasted. “All it does it tell you whether students have passed or failed. I would personally try to move from summative to performative assessment driven by technology. Teachers can get information onto a flight-deck of information. They’ve got no marking to do. All they’re doing is looking at the progress of kids and they can alter the learning plan straight away and that’s what would make a difference to learning.”

The technology for performative assessment like this already exists and companies such as Promethean and Pearson have been running trials of the technology with children in the UK and Mexico. By spending the money on performative instead of summative assessment, says Mr Wynn, “that would help technology companies. To do performative assessments, you need tests and systems and the technology in the kids’ hands. It would really help the [education technology] business but it would also help education at the same time.”

Another area that could save money is Internet tuition. TLC Education’s Simon Barnes argues that schools would benefit from greater use of Internet teaching to supplement existing teaching in situations where children need some additional help. Free periods during the day could be used without the cost of another teacher’s time. The needs of pupils who are excluded from the school, who are school-phobic or who are long-term sick could also be addressed, without using staff time or resources. “We can deliver in a much more cost-effective way and that’s the way things are moving,” he says, citing a recent court case that mandated school services for a child who could not attend.

As Michael Gove highlighted in his speech, there are real opportunities for content providers, such as the Khan Academy and TLC. Texas Instruments’ Andrea Forbes agrees that content providers, rather than hardware suppliers, are likely to be among the main beneficiaries of any change – or elaboration – in education technology policy. “People are saying that everyone will have a tablet in a couple of years’ time. That’s fine but what’s running on them? Content is the important thing.”

But while Mr Gove did back content over hardware, he wasn’t explicit about what kind of content he was looking for. Depending on the direction taken by the curriculum in the next few years, software providers that enable children to drill down through content might see the most benefits, but if children are expected to be content creators, then software designed to help children start projects from scratch are most likely to benefit.

But what really needs to happen according to BESA’s Andrea Carr is investment, not in hardware or even necessarily in software, but in professional development, good practice and support for teachers. Only then will teachers be able to get the most from the technology and schools see its true importance.

Texas Instruments’ Andrea Forbes agrees that training is needed and ultimately is the key to education technology adoption. “We need to introduce creative ways of teaching. But if there is to be ICT use in primary education, for example – a lot of primary teachers don’t have that background, so we need to start training them.” If a whiteboard is used correctly it will open up interaction with the children; used incorrectly, it will actually decrease interactivity. Simply having a YouTube video available for teachers to use in lessons won’t help them to make the best use of it or necessarily improve children’s learning.

Teachers themselves are aware of this and are naturally cautious. As a result, “who wins is down to professional development and the biggest winners will be the companies offering professional development services – a lot of teachers have experience of buying kit and nothing happening. Unless there’s a network to support them, they’re less likely to buy it.”

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