FEATURE: CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY
EdTech lessons from the last year – and five trends for now
Throughout lockdown we’ve seen schools answering the remote learning challenge in myriad ways, on and off-line; YouTube tutorials, online workbooks, hardcopy learning packs and online lessons. The choices schools have made have been based on a range of variables; most importantly students’ access to at-home technology, teachers’ tech skills, legacy systems and the school’s level of pre-Covid tech adoption. There’s been no single model and no agreement on what works best. During the first lockdown, I offered a series of
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n our second look at technology in and around the classroom, we’re delighted to
hear from Colin Hegarty, Education and UK Schools Director at Sparx. In this exclusive piece for Education Today, Colin examines the remote learning landscape and highlights some of the lessons we can all take away from what has undoubtedly been a hugely challenging year for teachers, pupils and parents.
live-streamed lessons and I know many teachers have taken to live streaming with fantastic enthusiasm. ‘Live’ has provided that appointment to view that is akin to the school day and is maybe why the DfE has been so enthusiastic for schools to adopt this approach. In this most recent lockdown offering children a structured school day, particularly for secondary, has become more widespread. Overall, research suggests a blended approach
to using a range of techniques is best. Early research by NfER in June 2020 found that using technology that promoted online conversations or “activities that involve consolidating previous learning or revising, have higher pupil engagement levels and an increased probability of having highly engaged disadvantaged pupils” was important. More recently, Ofsted’s guidance on
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www.education-today.co.uk
remote education stated “There does not appear to be a perfect one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, school leaders are taking into account their specific local contexts to design flexible remote solutions for pupils, staff and parents.” The message here is that those who have
adopted creative methods, using a variety of technologies have seen higher engagement across the board. Further, the technologies that seem to deliver the highest engagement are those that foster conversation, collaboration and personalised experiences.
The role of EdTech as schools welcome more students As schools welcome more students and, hopefully, start to return to some sort of normality, I am sure that what teachers have learnt through delivering remote education will be brought to bear in the classroom as well. In particular, I think there are five areas where I think we’ll see change.
1 Low stakes quizzing How much learning has actually settled in children’s brains is still largely unknown. Confidence in formative assessment when undertaken remotely has been a challenge. It means that even where student engagement has been good, we’re still in the dark when it comes
March 2021
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