Great teachers are driven by the teaching of their students. They want to create extraordinary experiences and education in the most ordinary classrooms around the country. But it’s not always easy. Technology can be a great enabler and enhancer – but at the forefront of education is the teaching experience. Technology is one way to make that a more creative, productive, and inclusive experience.
There has been an increasing demand for tech in the classroom, with schools across the UK spending close to £900 million on EdTech each year to leverage learning. The industry is set to be worth £129 billion by 2020.
The effective use of technology and digital solutions is driven by learning and teaching goals rather than a specific technology: the technology is not an end in itself. It does not replace teachers or well used techniques, but instead enhances learning experience.
Technology is interactive, and students learn by doing, researching, and receiving feedback. It engages students using a medium familiar to them, adding extra value to lessons in positive learning environments. It’s an opportunity to stretch and develop thinking, enhancing the classroom experience; an evolution in the way things are done, rather than a revolution.
There are so many ways that EdTech products are changing the classroom, from video content to gamification and immersive technology, they are addressing issues of personalisation and adaptive learning, and are often driven by data. As well as software, there are some great new hardware capabilities, such as the IMPACT Plus screen, that is designed to free teachers from the constraints of restrictive, traditional technology, and provide the tools and systems they need to help their students excel.
Tools that enable individuals to engage in a way that works for them mean that students can create their own learning pathways, supported by the expert knowledge and guidance of their teachers. We are increasingly seeing that personalisation is at the forefront of modern experiences, and this will play out in the classroom. It’s not just the learning experience that is enhanced, but outcomes are improved. Technology must be more strategically linked to achievement and learning in all schools.
Most teachers have hordes of resources, lesson plans and worksheets that they have already produced, and understandably don’t want them to go to waste. With Clevertouch, teachers can convert existing resources easily and quickly, and switch between services and packages effortlessly. No one wants to think that their work has gone to waste – and it doesn’t have to. The technology isn’t there to replace what’s gone before, but accelerate it. It’s about going beyond what’s been done before, reaching and stretching past what was possible before. Technology is only as effective as the instruction that goes with it, and great technology providers offer support to help schools integrate it into the learning environment. It’s one of the reasons that Clevertouch have sought feedback and input from teachers throughout the development process – to ensure it meets their needs.
The Education Endowment Foundation says that “Technology can help teachers model in new ways and provide opportunities to highlight how experts think as well as what they do, but may be most effective when used as a supplement rather than a substitute.
