Schools ICT policy

• Article 4 of 15
• EducationInvestor, January 2012

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After months of silence on the subject from the government, December finally brought education technology companies some much needed signs that the government hadn’t forgotten about the role of technology and computing in education. Speaking at The Schools Network in December, the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove said that there ‘is a perception by some that my department isn’t especially concerned about such things – that we care more about Tennyson than technology. That our interest is in Ibsen, not iTunes.’

But that, he said, was false. The government is looking at ‘flexible, adaptable learning within schools, taking advantage of the way technology is transforming education’. He cited examples like the Khan Academy, which provides tutorials on the web, educational gaming, and a pilot programme to teach maths using computers run by the DfE, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and the Stanford Research Institute. He also considered the place of technology for creating better assessment systems and emphasised the need to look at content more than at hardware.

“The challenge for us is this,” Mr Gove concluded. “How we can harness the many exciting technological leaps that are constantly being made? We will be saying much more early in the new year. Make no mistake: this is a priority for me. I believe we need to take a serious, intelligent approach to educational technology if our children are not to be left behind.”

But, at the time of writing, the actual details of what Mr Gove and the DfE are proposing for the use of technology in education were still to be published – and, as with everything, the devil is in the details. So what are education technology companies hoping to hear from Mr Gove this month?

Gareth Davies, managing director of schools learning platform company Frog, says that what’s more clearly needed by education technology companies is guidance from the DfE about the use of technology. “Schools have lost guidance, they’re feeling isolated. The DfE seemed to be saying that technology is no longer relevant. Times are hard and schools are frightened of spending.”

Lewis Bronze, chief executive and co-founder of Espresso Education, agrees: “I’m hoping he’ll provide leadership on how technology can benefit schools – it’s a fact that the government have been slow in acknowledging the benefits of technology in education. So I’d like some very clear messages, not necessarily through legislation or anything like that but reflected through organisations like Ofsted, that a school with a good development plan will be a school that includes a good strategy on the development of ICT across all of its services, all of its subjects and all of its departments.”

But Andrea Forbes, UK and Ireland manager at equipment supplier Texas Instruments’s education technology group, warns against too prescriptive guidance. “If he recommends something like greater access to computer labs, which in a time of cutbacks isn’t available, that can’t be a template. I’ve just been to a school where a class went to a computer lab and that was the first time they’ve been in all term. So it’s got to be tempered with practicality.”

However, she cautions against removing prescription that results in less support for schools. “There are a lot of schools now operating with less support that are doing things independently that could previously have done things collaboratively.” She says having experts at local authorities who “understand the challenges and opportunities in each subject for ICT – different subjects have different needs” would help both schools and technology companies.

One kind of prescriptive guidance that the department should insist on, says Simon Barnes, the founder of specialist maths, English and science tutoring provider TLC Education, is support for British companies rather than overseas companies in technology choices. He wrote to Michael Gove after his speech to complain about the referencing of foreign companies in his speech. “It made me a little bit cross really,” says Mr Barnes. “I’m pleased he’s looking into Internet use for tuition. But the fact he cited going to Singapore and seeing a wonderful online session slightly raised an eyebrow, since we’re doing that – proper high-quality online lessons with good tutors – in the UK. Here we are, a British company, trying to struggle along, trying to get this out there and he starts talking about Singaporean lessons.”

Andrea Carr, head of educational publisher Rising Stars and chair of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), says that her experiences with the Department for Education’s technology unit suggest that British companies could indeed be in the unit’s sights. “There’s a level of engagement with BESA has been quite good. They’ve been engaging with stakeholders and as suppliers, we’ve been invited to show where our products and services can improve standards and raise education. We’ve been feeding in case studies and evidence for the last few months.” She adds that BESA members have been given the opportunity to feed into the department’s research process thus far.

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.”

We’ll know before the end of the month whether Michael Gove will announce better training for all teachers in ICT or provide better guidance for schools on ICT adoption. But if he doesn’t, plans to increase education technology adoption in schools are likely to result in business as usual – or perhaps even less usage – rather than radical change.

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