An EdTech strategy helps everyone. It brings schools and EdTech providers together to better solve the education industries problems. The UK government is implementing its own EdTech strategy, and many schools are following their example. Below are some of the considerations that should go into your EdTech strategy (along with a digital DNA audit for your school).

Find out more about your school’s digital capabilities and how to get the most out of EdTech below.

After a long wait, the UK’s Department for Education (DfE) announced its EdTech strategy in early April.

The strategy laid out the UK government’s expectations of a closer relationship between schools and the EdTech companies that supply them. According to the DfE’s statement, the new strategy “will go further by ensuring businesses are better equipped to develop products which meet the needs of educators, enabling them to build a robust evidence base to demonstrate the impact of their products; and driving demand for both innovative and proven products.”

This is a positive step. Collaboration underpins the most successful technology companies. The lessons that ViewSonic learns from supplying technology to the corporate sector, and to education sectors across the world, are applied to what we do in the UK. These lessons would be much harder to learn, and to teach were it not for a steady flow of information between us and our schools and businesses.

We can and do learn from our schools (it seems we are never too old for that) but the two-way flow of information can also help schools realise the potential of technology. Perhaps most importantly, collaboration supports intelligent development, helping to ensure that products meet the needs of teachers and students alike.

Tackling Education Workload with EdTech

In addition to calling for more collaboration, the DfE laid out several challenges that it hopes to meet. It comes as no surprise to see workload singled out as a priority.

It’s been clear that this is high of the DfE’s agenda for some time, although perhaps not as long as many unions would have preferred. Education Secretary MP Damian Hinds called for tech to be seen as an enabler and an enhancer, rather than something that adds to a teacher’s load. The onus for this is, rightly, placed on EdTech providers.

Ease of use is a priority if we want EdTech to hit its mark. Technology gets truly exciting when the complexity under the lid is just that; under the lid, hidden from view. The complex side of EdTech should be the domain of the developers, for teachers it should just work, and it should allow them to work. Free up the teachers’ time to teach, and both the learner and the teacher benefit.

Of course, EdTech is just one factor in teachers achieving better a better work-life balance.

Aiding Special Education with EdTech

Another area that received attention is special educational needs. Technology can have a significant impact on all children. However, for those whose difficulties make mainstream education harder to access, its effects can be profound. Interactive and assistive technology can help to ensure that education is accessible to all learners. As the DfE stated, “Technology has the power to bring children with certain special education needs new independence in learning and communicating.”

For more on the benefits of EdTech as assistive technology, see our blog posts here and here.

Guaranteeing Safety and Data Security with EdTech

Other barriers noted by the DfE include safety and data security – topics that have been front and centre even before changes to GDPR. The introduction of new regulations upped the fear factor, but we need a sensible approach to data. Analysis of data is one of the ways in which technology can offer huge benefits, but the concerns over privacy and data protection can hinder this. That’s not to say privacy isn’t important, it is crucial, but we need to get past the fear factor and fully exploit technology. Data and the high performing classroom should not be mutually exclusive.

Recognizing the Role of Digital DNA in Education

There was recognition of the disparate infrastructure and digital capabilities of schools, which is a critical barrier for many institutions. We call this Digital DNA, it is as the ability of an educational institution to absorb and use digital information, tools, and technologies to the betterment of its educators and students. Therefore it’s important to create a strong synergy between the organizational, human, and technological factors in an educational institution.

Finding out about your Digital DNA can help a school to ensure that EdTech investments hit its mark. Knowledge is power here; without a clear understanding of what a school is equipped for, investments will carry high risk. There are several ways to determine your Digital DNA, and this knowledge should be used to inform your EdTech procurement to ensure your investments will have the desired impact. Download our free whitepaper to learn more about EdTech in the UK and Digital DNA.

We suggest a simple Digital DNA Audit:

Steps 1: Conduct an internal digital DNA analysis

Step 2: Review current and future trends in EdTech

Step 3: Define current needs and future needs

Step 4: Design a digital DNA strategy and get support from stakeholders

Step 5: Defining your implementation plan

Step 6: Create a plan for action by selecting solutions providers

Take our 5-minutes Digital DNA quiz today free to get started. 

Ultimately, time will tell whether this strategy will help schools realise the benefits and potential of technology. We have long been committed to collaborating with schools and we hope this practice becomes more widespread. There is strength in numbers and if we can bring teachers, schools, students, and technology innovators together, then the future should certainly be brighter.