Advertorial What are the most future-proof school educational technology investments?


It’s clear that today, more educa- tors are relying on educational technology (edtech) to supple- ment teaching methods in UK classrooms.


According to Promethean’s 2018/19 State of Technology in Education report, over 50% of educators believe that technol- ogy is now integral to everyday life, so they believe it should more of a priority in education. A similar number confirm that edtech is a great way to engage their pupils, so it seems like a natural progression in schools, according to the research. But, with so many edtech options available (and schools budgets an ongoing issue) which technologies


offer the most future-proof investments?


Which tech will see the big- gest growth?


Recent research conducted by the British Educational Suppli- ers Association (BESA) found the demand for edtech in sec- ondary schools is higher than


most future-proof for schools. Most IT managers (70%) believe cloud-based tools will see the biggest growth in the next three years. What’s more, 42.5% of IT managers believe robotics and coding will feature highly


in tomorrow’s


landscape, compared to 22% of other staff.


ensure you’re


edtech just


By advising schools how to incorporate these technologies into their edtech strategy, you will


protecting


their investments and prepar- ing pupils for tomorrow, as well as today.


How does tech already play a role?


Technology is already key when it comes to formal school as- sessment practices — 52% of teachers track summative assessment purely online, and


Which technologies do you see making the biggest growth in the next 1 – 3 years? 2018 % Change 45


Front-of-class technology (interactive panels/whiteboards) 37 Tablets


Virtual Learning Environment Robotics/coding


Cloud-based lesson planning and delivery tools Modelling and simulations Online assessments Apps


Online content and resources


27 23 47 18 60 39 54


Of the following options, which do you think is the most likely trend we will see over the next 10 years?


Technology-aided teaching will become the only way in which lessons are taught


Technology use will be routinely combined with traditional resources and teaching methods


Growth will slow and the use of technology in education will start to decline


Other


The majority of Promethean’s survey respondents say that on- line assessments, as well as on- line content and resources, are likely to see the biggest growth over the next few years.


2017 2018 28


10.9 63.8


8.1 0.1


in primary schools. The biggest requirements are tech training (35%), digital classroom con- tent (39%) and online assess- ment (28%)


This demand was corroborat-


ed by the majority of Promethe- an’s survey respondents — they say


that online assessments,


as well as online content and resources, are likely to see the biggest growth over the next few years.


At the same time, over a quar- ter more respondents identified front-of-class technology as a key growth area, and 16% more respondents selected tablets this year.


What do IT staff think?


IT managers are a highly knowl- edgeable resource in schools when it comes to edtech and IT investments. To get their per- spective, Promethean’s annual State of Technology in Educa- tion survey questioned them separately on which technolo- gies they believe would be the


P10 AV News December 2018 78.9


6.8 3.4


over 71% track it partly online. At the same time, there are ongoing opportunities


26 16 10 9 6 4 2


-0.4 -1.7


for


teaching staff to make use of tech for assessment; only 31% of teachers track formative as- sessment online:


“Being able to access ad- vancements in technology will keep me up to date and rele- vant for pupils and allow them to see that what we are teach- ing applies to them. For me, relevance equals more engage- ment in lessons, which equals less discipline issues,” said Senior Teacher, Local Authority Primary, North West England Tech will never replace tradi- tional teaching


Despite the move towards a more digital pedagogical land- scape, almost 80% of our ed- ucators believe that edtech will only be combined with tradi- tional teaching resources over the next decade, rather than replacing it. Technology is increasingly important for meeting schools’ goals like raising attainment, boosting engagement and im-


One such school adopting this approach is Torkington Primary in Stockport, Cheshire. While the school had previously in- vested in interactive displays, the aging projector/whiteboard systems were not comparable with the touch screen tech- nology which the children had become familiar with in their home environments. Moreover, the school had recently invested in iPads and wanted to ensure it was continuing its vision to cre- ate a collaborative classroom environment. Connectivity be- came a key driver in the deci- sion-making process to achieve this objective. A front of class display was needed that would allow teachers to connect and interact with pupil iPads and other class devices.


Seeking to redress the tech- nological imbalance between home and school, Headteach- er, Andy Buckler, initiated a whole-school upgrade to Pro- methean ActivPanels and un- derpinned this with a support- ing programme of training to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to achieve maximum impact on teaching and learning.


An integrated approach


Torkington Primary introduced eight 75” ActivPanels into all of its classrooms as part of a wider ICT strategy that strived to create immersive learning experiences by integrating all of the teaching technolo- gies available, including the class-sets of iPads. Working in partnership with Elementa- ry Technology, a Promethean Platinum Partner, Andy appre- ciated the importance of pro- viding quality training to en- sure the ActivPanels were not


Torkington Primary: “We recognised that the hardware upgrade was only one part of the investment. For technology to be a true enabler in the classroom, we needed to support the teaching team with quality training provision.”


simply used as display devices: “We recognised that the hard- ware upgrade was only one part of the investment. For tech- nology to be a true enabler in the classroom, we needed to support the teaching team with quality training provision. When we identified Promethe- an as the brand of choice for the technology, we also inves- tigated the training


provision


available and the partner clear- ly demonstrated strong creden- tials in this area.”


Beyond initial orientation training to upskill the teachers with the fundamentals of using the ActivPanel, Andy was clear that the partnership had to pro- vide value in the longer term: “We didn’t just want a compa- ny that could fulfil the basics of operating the ActivPanel, our vision was to forge a long term partnership where they could help us to progress over time and provide training that would facilitate this.” For Year 5 teacher, Bethan Owen, the training and support provided by Elementary Tech- nology has proven invaluable: “The ActivPanel is really easy to use. The tablet-like nature makes it intuitive to pick up the basics with minimal guid- ance but having received more in-depth training from our Promethean partner, it’s safe to say that it’s enabled me to reach a higher level of com- petence and confidence much more quickly.”


For Bethan, the training has also helped to consolidate the ActivPanel’s capabilities across ActivInspire and educational apps, enabling her to deliver lessons which draw on multiple


features: “Accessing the Goo- gle Earth app direct from the home screen is a great starter to stimulate children’s interest in the world around us, which I used initially when getting to grips with the technology. As my experience and skills have developed, I can now do so much more. For example, I might bring in a ruler tool from ActivInspire to measure the distance between two points on the globe, which brings maths skills into play, or launch the Instant Whiteboarding app to highlight a specific area to fo- cus interest.” Torkington


Primary’s vision


for integrating its classroom technologies is also coming to fruition with iPads now seamlessly used in conjunc- tion with both the ActivPanel and paper-based exercises: “By drawing on a range of resources available through the ActivPanel, we’re able to make learning about the so- cial and physical environment much more engaging. When exploring ‘how things change over time’, for example, I can give groups of pupils printed photographs and ask them to find the same place as it looks today, on their iPads. Work- ing in small groups, they can then annotate the ‘current day’ view and share back to the Ac- tivPanel for a wider class dis- cussion. This approach helps to encourage small group col- laboration, stimulates whole class discussion and at the same time, creates a record which


can be printed and


saved in the children’s topic books.”


proving schools’ profiles. But at the same time, we’re un- likely to ever see edtech taking a higher priority than quality teaching staff and tried and tested learning practices. The future, therefore, is


more likely to feature a blend of interactive front-of-class technologies like Promethe- an’s ActivPanels and handheld devices like tablets, used by highly skilled teaching staff in a collaborative and inclusive


Case study: Torkington Primary


educational setting. Online re- sources, digital tools and tradi- tional resources will be used in harmony to teach arts, sciences and future-proof skills like cod- ing.


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