2. What should be the Department’s role in EdTech?
Political appetite
Opportunities for EdTech
Barriers to adoption
Rob Rodney
Department for Education

3. 1. Current political appetite…
There is clear untapped potential for schools, colleges and universities to benefit even further from the power of technology to support students to learn, reduce the workload burden on teachers and save money.

4. 1. Current political appetite…
By forging a strong partnership between government, technology innovators and the sector, we can transform how education is delivered for the learners of today and tomorrow.

5. 1. Current political appetite…
As a starting point to all of this, we need to get the basics right. For some schools access to technology is limited by broadband speeds and we are working across government to address this.

6. 1. Current political appetite…
I recognise that in the past, Governments have been guilty of imposing unwanted technology on schools. Over a decade ago expensive interactive whiteboards were rolled out to schools, without the support of teachers, and we saw no subsequent rise in pupils’ attainment directly linked to that technology.

7. 1. Current political appetite…
Technology will never be able to replace the motivated, inspirational effect of a great teacher, but it can support great teaching and save teachers’ time so they can focus on what matters.

8. 1. Current political appetite…
I’ve seen great examples of schools and colleges harnessing cutting edge technology to enthuse and inspire; from students virtually exploring the Amazon rainforest, to navigating from a simulated ship’s bridge, to programming robots.

9. 1. Current political appetite…
Yet, disappointingly, despite some remarkable innovation, there is one sector where the impact of technology remains surprisingly limited: education.

10. 2. Opportunities for EdTech
There are five key opportunities for the sector to create a step change in education, improving teaching and slashing workload. These include developing innovative:
Teaching practices to support access, inclusion, and improved learning outcomes for all
Assessment processes, making assessment more effective and efficient
Methods for delivery of teacher training and development by upgrading educator support so they can learn and develop more flexibly
Administration processes to reduce the burden of ‘non-teaching’ tasks
Solutions to lifelong learning to help those who have left the formal education system to get the best from online learning
Supply
Content
emand

11. What do you see as the key barriers to effective use of technology?
Group 1: Barriers to supply?
Group 2: Barriers to demand?
Supply
Content
Demand

12. How can we work together to share insight?
Rob Rodney
Department for Education