VIEWS & OPINION


The growing ed tech market – investing to empower educators and students to create the world of tomorrow


Comment by IAN FORDHAM, Director of Education, Microsoft UK


Today, headlines are filled with concerns about the impact of new waves of technology, automation, and AI on jobs, skills and future growth. But the opportunity has now arrived for the UK to harness the potential of these combined developments to empower educators and students to start creating the world of tomorrow.


A recent British Chamber of Commerce survey shows more than three- in-four businesses are still facing a significant shortage of digital skills in their workforce, which is hindering their overall productivity and performance. This is one of the reasons why we launched Microsoft’s Digital Skills Programme last year. The growing UK “ed tech” market is a clear symbol that the tide is turning, with schools, colleges and universities also acting as catalysts for change in their regions and driving new developments in education and learning.


In recent months it’s been a welcome development to see organisations such as the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) revealing that schools’ spending on ICT is set to increase for the first time in three years, and that an extra £84m will be invested in training computer science teachers. In a recent speech, Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds outlined the benefits of embracing technology and its role in tackling workloads, creating engaging content, accelerating the success of our computing curriculum and breaking down learning barriers for those in less fortunate circumstances.


In the UK, policy makers and educators are recognising the many


benefits that come from educational technology and the impact it has on learning outcomes. The UK has a long journey to becoming a digital nation, which requires a fast route to success, as other nations in Europe and globally are moving faster, bolder and with more intent. Higher Education is aware of this fast-moving market and the competition they face, particularly in a Brexit age, and technology can be a differentiator on student experience. For example, the work done by Bristol University to create interactive data and facilitate communication between students and experts across the world is vital.


It is not just higher education, either. Primary and secondary schools can also see a significant range of benefits when implementing technology purposefully in the classroom. A recent Forrester study shows the benefits that come with using a combination of technologies alongside each other. Working with the technology, teachers can now create more compelling lessons simply by using tools such as OneNote to track their students’ learning and progress. Classroom collaboration is also improved greatly by the use of tools that open up learning, such as Teams. There are many positive developments in the UK education technology market and their impact on closing the digital skills gap can empower our economy. But to really get ahead and stay ahead, the education sector needs to come together and share best practice. Only then will we succeed in empowering the educators and students of today to create the world of tomorrow and ensure the UK remains competitive on a global scale.


Schools will only be able to meet the new Baker Clause obligations if they engage properly with employers


Comment by EMMA FINAMORE, editor, AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk


As the Baker Clause – a law obliging schools to give education and training providers the opportunity to talk to pupils about technical qualifications and apprenticeships – comes into force, new research shows that school leavers’ awareness of the National Apprenticeship Service is only half that of UCAS. If the UK’s young people are to be made fully aware of all their career options, schools must engage with employers providing apprenticeships. Under the rules, every school is obliged to give training providers – these can include employers offering vocational programmes – access to every pupil between years 8 and 13, so they can find out about non-academic routes. The Department for Education’s statutory guidance says schools need to make public their arrangements to provide this access, explain how and where to arrange it, and explain the grounds for granting or refusing requests from external organisations.


An investigation has recently shown that just two out of 10 of England’s multi-academy trusts have fully complied with their new legal duty. My organisation – AllAboutSchoolLeavers – published research last year that helps explain this failure to meet the new obligations: many schools simply do not prioritise careers guidance. When asked for their priorities, head teachers put “Welfare & Community”, “Achievement & Aspirations”, “Teaching, Learning & Assessment” and “Finance & Governance” above “Student Employability & Careers Advice”, which was a top five priority for just 9% of head teachers.


Just over 30% of head teachers did not think it was a legal requirement to “ensure independent careers guidance is presented in an impartial manner”. Almost half believed “helping every pupil develop high aspirations and consider a broad and ambitious range of careers” was not part of their legal duty.


February 2018


Despite this, schools are keen to engage with employers – in our research careers advisers told us that they are very eager for offers of assemblies, workshops and other in-school contact. But employers need to be better at understanding the restrictions that school staff and pupils work within: a central London academy careers adviser recently told me that she often has to turn down invitations to visits and open days in big corporate offices because it doesn’t fit into the timetable, or she has not been given sufficient time to organise the trip. Employers coming into schools, working around pupils’ timetables, is a much more effective way of engaging – for both parties.


This is where organisations like AllAboutSchoolLeavers can help: our school liaison team links up businesses with schools, allowing them to build proper relationships and give pupils proper time with apprenticeship and school leaver programme employers. Miranda Smith, who works in recruitment at accountancy firm Mazars, has used this service to help attract school leavers onto her programmes.


“AllAboutSchoolLeavers understood our objectives, requirements and also the culture of Mazars when they went about selecting appropriate schools,” she says. “With their team also approaching and on-boarding, we were able to rely on their experience and knowledge throughout.” Later in the year our re-launched MyCareerSpringboard careers guidance tool will allow school staff not only to track pupils as they progress through the activity, but to contact employers offering workshops, assemblies and other engagement opportunities.


Both schools and employers should think outside the box when it comes to careers advice and use all the services available to them. With the introduction of the Baker Clause, schools will now have to.


www.education-today.co.uk 23


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