According to research by The DfE, the EdTech sector is set to be worth £331bn globally by 2025 – yet, education has also been described as “grossly under digitised”, with less than 4% of worldwide education budgets being spent on tech.
These stats paint an enlightening picture of the future of technology in education. It’s a growing area, but not necessarily one that all schools and multi-academy trusts are making the most of. But with benefits including time savings, reduced workload, enhanced learning experiences, and improved parental engagement, future-thinking schools and MATs are putting EdTech at the top of their agenda for 2023.
When thinking about the future of EdTech, or about introducing any new EdTech into your school or MAT, you want to know about the exact everyday problems it’ll solve. Here are a few of those common issues, and the technology that’s making them more manageable.
If you’ve encountered security risks due to holding cash on-site or had parents ask whether they can pay for school meals and trips digitally, a payment platform allows you to process all payments in one place – making things easier for you and your parents.
If you’ve found difficulties trying to engage parents – and keep them engaged – an all-in-one parent app is ideal for busy parents. This kind of EdTech replaces disjointed, paper-based communication to put all the key school information in one place.
Maybe you’re one of the schools that finds it difficult to manage mealtimes? You’re not alone. From navigating menu choices to allergy information, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to meal management. But there are technological solutions available to help you manage the menu and finances associated with mealtimes – making things simpler for everyone.
Had parents been unable to make parents’ evening due to accessibility issues or other commitments? A major advancement in EdTech is that many parents’ evenings are now managed digitally. These systems allow teachers to schedule their own availability, give parents the freedom to choose an appointment time that suits them, and improve attendance overall at these key events.
If you’re facing problems with disorganised students when it comes to their homework, a homework app is a piece of tech that not only encourages better organisation from students but makes visibility easier for teachers and parents, too.
Or perhaps you’ve already introduced some EdTech into your school, but you’re finding that a lot of the technology is working independently, rather than as one. There are all-in-one solutions available that combine communication, learning, payments, and admin in a single system, helping you fully embrace the future of EdTech.
So, we know what EdTech looks like now, and we can see how it’s making everyday school tasks simpler for teachers, parents, and students. But where do we go from here? When mapping the future of education technology, a few key trends emerge.
Much of the emerging tech seems to relate to security and safeguarding. AI and machine learning will unlock the ability to do important tasks more quickly – and could be the key to spotting worrying patterns in a student’s attendance records. Blockchain is another piece of technology that’s improving safety, allowing educational records, qualifications, and currencies to be simplified and verified in a cost-effective way.
Virtual and augmented reality (VAR) is already becoming more accessible to schools, allowing students to enjoy interactive and immersive experiences that can enhance their learning of a subject, often in scenarios that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
ITS software is creating a whole new level of personalisation when it comes to learning. These systems can write personalised questions, spot patterns in written and spoken work, adapt to individual or diverse learning styles, and present students with targeted learning materials. Also in this realm is the introduction of some robots and digital avatars into schools around the world – designed to enhance learning and build confidence. Although it is worth noting that both of these examples are more learning enhancers, and are by no means a substitute for the work of a highly trained and skilled teaching professional.
If we’ve got your mind racing about the future of EdTech, we’ve created an in-depth guide to the latest trends and government research, including tips on formulating a tech strategy that ensures the very best student outcomes. Just click here to download it today.