12 | OPINION: BESA | PRIMARY AND SECONDARY


W: edtechnology.co.uk | T: @Educ_Technology


TABLET AWARENESS DECREASING?


The ‘Tablets and Connectivity’ research carried out by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) suggests that the awareness of tablets in schools in decreasing: certainly an unexpected change. However, when we asked Caroline Wright, director at BESA to interpret these findings things became a lot clearer


would naturally assume that awareness of the technology was also on the increase. And as expected, the 636 respondents to the survey forecast that by 2016, 37% or all computer hardware in schools would be tablet devices: a 13% increase on last year’s prediction. The survey revealed that awareness of


T


tablets in secondary schools alone has dropped by 18%. So why are we seeing a decrease in the level of awareness of the technology? The answer lies in the normal


technology adoption life cycle of most ‘new to market’ products. For the first few years of using any new technology there is a slow increase in awareness as people start to talk about the product and early adopters proudly share their experiences. After this initial stage teachers begin to realise that the potential for the technology’s usage is far greater than they anticipated or had experienced, and in turn feel less confident about their capabilities and knowledge. Product adoption implications such as


educational apps, the creation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) schemes and the atendant OS compatibility issues, and suddenly, they don’t feel so ‘aware’ because they realise that something that initially seemed simple requires a level of planning and working through in order to deliver even greater benefits to the school. So actual awareness of the technology


isn’t really falling, schools are simply understanding all associated issues and feeling they have a lot to learn. So what are the current barriers to adoption: areas of understanding that schools are looking to grasp to make them feel


he cost and mobility of tablets has resulted in a significant rise in their adoption in schools. Therefore, we


comfortable with the technology? A highly significant 90% of surveyed


schools gave funding and budget allocation as the main barrier to their adoption of tablets. Other reasons that were considered to be a significant obstacle included the management and security of the technology (85%). As students are free to roam around


the class or school with their tablet device the teacher can start to feel they have no control over the learning. Being aware of what each child is working on and being able to support their learning pathway can be harder with mobile technology. However, various classroom management software tools are available to enable the teacher to have sight of and control each child’s activity. The strength of the schools Wi-Fi


infrastructure is also a consideration. Although tablets can be used when offline, the true benefits can only be realised when they have internet connectivity. Another issue that needs atention is


the availability of high quality learning content compatible with the chosen devices. If you chose iPads, what iOS content is available? If schools are going to download apps, how do they manage this installation, and the regular upgrades, on all devices? Recharging is another aspect of tablet


adoption that must be brought into the decision making process. What facilities does the school have for recharging multiple devices on a daily basis? These considerations aren’t of


Caroline Wright


course unique to tablet technology: such hindrances could be applied to investment in any product. However, in the case of tablet technology schools place the management and security of tablets as the leading barriers to procurement: these are specific to mobile technology and something that schools and suppliers must consider. Overall, the outlook for the


technology appears to be very positive and certainly when we consider the teaching opportunities realised by mobile technology, we expect to see the adoption and benefits continue to expand.


BESA, the British Educational Suppliers Association, is a trade association representing over 300 educational suppliers


in the UK, including manufacturers and distributors of equipment, materials, books, consumables, furniture, technology, ICT hardware and digital content-related services to the education market.


Small image: © Darrinhenry | Dreamstime.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72