A tech revolution is coming to classrooms

Technology can transform education and reduce teachers’ workloads if we invest in the right products

From smartphones to GPS to AI, 21st-century technology has made our lives faster, more convenient and more connected. Yet despite some remarkable innovation, there is one area where the impact of technology remains surprisingly limited: education.

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. However, 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 teachers’ workload and save money. Here, then, is my fivepoint vision for how the education sector can better exploit technology.

First, technology has the potential to make assessment far more effective and efficient – while reducing the time teachers spend on marking. There are now a number of online tools that can help teachers identify and track how their pupils are doing in a particular subject, and where they need extra help. This allows teachers to provide targeted and meaningful support.

Second, technology can help professional development for teachers throughout their careers. We know that training opportunities away from school can be hard won, but there are now more options to take up online training, which can be more flexible and more cost effective.

Third, innovative new technology can reduce the administrative burden on teachers, saving time and money. Already, moving from server-based systems to the cloud has saved a number of schools thousands of pounds and hours of time.

Fourth, technology can help access and inclusion for children with different backgrounds and abilities, especially in supporting students to learn alongside other children irrespective of their needs. For example, use of speech-to-text tools and advanced screen readers can support dyslexic students to engage in information, check their work and overcome barriers where they might have struggled in the past.

Fifth, technology can break down the walls of the traditional classroom and give people a second chance to learn new skills. I recently saw adults retraining in the basics of welding, using an advanced simulator at a college in Dudley. In an increasingly automated world, jobs are changing fast and many adults want to learn new skills. But some have responsibilities that make returning to a classroom or lecture hall difficult, which is why, as part of our national retraining scheme, we will be offering online adult learning courses, including in digital skills.

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. We are working across government to address this, with work already under way to connect 100 under-served schools to ultra-fast broadband.

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, without the support of teachers, but we saw no subsequent rise in pupils’ attainment. While it’s up to schools to choose the products that best suit them, with around 1,000 tech companies selling to schools, it’s by no means easy to separate the genuinely useful products from the fads and the gimmicks.

That’s why I this autumn I will bring leading figures in education and the education technology industry together to discuss what kind of software and products are really needed. And how technology could help address the biggest challenges in education, such as teacher workload, supporting children to learn languages or retraining adults.

Technology will never be able to replace the inspirational effect of a great teacher, but it can support great teaching and save teachers time so they can focus on what matters. By forging a strong partnership between government, technology innovators and educators, we can transform how education is delivered for the learners of today and tomorrow.