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EdTech is now an integral part of teaching and learning. Whether used with children in the classroom or colleagues in the boardroom, it can help us to provide everyone with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate work and life in an ever-changing world.
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Buying the Right EdTech For Your School - a Guide
​Technology can help reduce teacher workload, increase productivity and support student engagement to improve attainment and academic progress. Yet, despite its great potential and the wealth of EdTech products available, the experience of schools is that many fail to deliver what they promised.
With increasing budgetary pressures, finding the right EdTech solution to meet your learners’ needs is becoming even more crucial. So what steps can you take to try and make sure you get it right?
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£900m
Was spent on EdTech for schools in the UK in 2018 - £24 million more than the year before.
57%
Of EdTech purchases are based on recommendations from teachers within the school.
37%
Of senior leaders feel that the EdTech they're using "mostly" meets their original objectives
52%
Of schools rely on teachers to assess efficacy of their EdTech products.
Source: BESA EdTech in English Maintained Schools: Market Research, June 2018​
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One of the main pitfalls for schools looking to purchase EdTech products is ensuring that there is sufficient clarity and agreement across the school as to the learning objectives that any new technology needs to meet, and evidence that a specific product has the ability to do so. This, plus barriers such as lack of infrastructure and insufficient resources for training is often what leaves schools unable to harness the full power and potential of the EdTech available to them.
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In our guide to Buying the right EdTech for Your School, we’ve created a structured assessment framework for you to follow when thinking about what EdTech products to buy, to help you avoid some of the common mistakes that are made when it comes to buying EdTech.
Working with EDUCATE for Schools has been really helpful in teaching our staff how to identify and prioritise our needs around Edtech. I now feel more confident that we’ll be able to find technology solutions that are really fit for purpose.
