How technology is revolutionising schools in the UK

Early September used to see a rush to the local Woolworths for a new pencil case, ruler, compass and maybe a protractor.

But as youngsters across the UK return to the classroom after the long summer break, many will instead be packing a tablet computer or laptop in their rucksack.

Over recent years, the way British pupils are taught in school has been revolutionised by technology.

Whether it's connecting to the "cloud" to share homework with fellow classmates or creating YouTube videos and interactive projects, the scope with which they can be inventive and innovative has been made far easier through the wealth of tech now available to pupils and their teachers.

No longer is an interactive whiteboard the benchmark for technology in the classroom. In fact, many schools now shun these for portable gadgets to ensure tutors can move freely around the room, interacting more closely with those in their care.

It is an environment that would be totally alien to the parents and grandparents of today’s students.


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Adam Dean, head of Economics at an independent school in Kent, said: "Things now are completely different to when I was at secondary school 20 years ago and they have changed massively even since I began teaching in 2003.

"Then technology was really cumbersome and the broadband was slow. Now all of our pupils and teachers have a MacBook Pro while in the previous State school I worked at, each student was given a tablet computer as they entered in years seven or 12 to take through the school years with them.

"Lessons now are far more interactive. I regularly show videos from YouTube or iPlayer on the projector and everyone uses Google Docs to create work on.

"As a teacher it means I can track exactly who has done what as it leaves a digital footprint and allows the kids to work collaboratively on projects, whether they're in the classroom or sitting at home.

"I also use online storage site Dropbox to share module downloads with the children and I even have my own school-based Facebook page, where I can alert them to events that might be useful, documentaries on TV to watch and post interesting links to view."


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Mr Dean added: "Tablets such as the iPad are now far more useful than a traditional laptop, especially with Apple's educational software from iTunes U.

"The only downside is pupils tend to be 'information demanders' in that they access whatever they want to know straight away through search and then read it as gospel.

"I now dedicate time to showing them how to be smarter about their searches and how they can research the internet properly."

Drew Buddie, head of ICT at the Royal Masonic School for Girls in Hertfordshire, is another who believes free tools from the internet are revolutionising education.

He explained: "Without a shadow of a doubt, the exciting and creative, usually free, web 2.0 tools that students can use individually and collaboratively such as Wikis and mindmaps mean there has never been a more exciting time to teach or be taught.

"I also believe that 3D printing and coding and robotics offer the most exciting potential in the classroom at the moment because both are now affordable for any school to deliver."

But Mr Buddie admits he is well aware of a new set of problems schools now face.

He said: "Technology has brought the world to students’ own desks but this has led to pupils being unable to judge the veracity of the content, so laziness can lead to obtaining inaccurate results. 

"Young people also need to learn to be less willing to sacrifice their privacy on social networks and to be aware of how to create a positive digital footprint for themselves that will be seen by colleges, universities and employers in the future."


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In June, the Government announced it would use technology in the classroom to help pupils connect with the developing world by bringing overseas pen pals and foreign exchange trips into the 21st century through web-conferencing and mobile phone apps.

A new three-year Connecting Classrooms programme aimed to share expertise with those overseas and even hold joint virtual assemblies.

Abdul Chohan, a director at Essa Academy in Bolton, believes technology is certainly changing things for the better.

He said: "The use of iPods and iPads is an increasing trend in many classrooms. More and more schools are moving away from expensive interactive whiteboards that are not used, and require the teacher to stand at the front of the room and away from students."

Mr Chohan says that although there is a significant cost to schools to buy tablets such as iPads initially, this can be offset by a range of savings over the long-term.

He explained: "iPads are an investment for the school rather than a replacement for laptops. Due to their portability and reliability, we have seen a sharp drop in the cost of printing. We have been able to remove additional printers from the school and adopt a scan to email system.

"iPads also allow the use of cloud services like Dropbox - again this helps to reduce the cost of expensive storage and the need for additional personnel to support the infrastructure.

"Our telephony has been replaced with an iPad solution. This allows every teacher to use theirs as a telephone. This has led to huge cost savings in that we have not had to run additional cables or buy handsets.

"Technology has also influenced the learning culture. Teachers and associate staff can work from anywhere in the school removing the need to have costly offices and increasing socialisation."

He cites other additional benefits such as students being able to use their tablet rather than having to compete for time on a family-shared home computer. They are also able to email teachers with tutors responding when they are free to do so.

He added: "Traditionally students would have to go to a 'computer room' or use a 'laptop trolley' and then teachers have to put up with the nightmare of forgetting passwords and computers not working. This poor experience for students has now been removed.

"The biggest barrier is to change the mindset of a school with respect to the use of technology. The culture and use of space has to change. A teacher cannot continue to be 'the sage on the stage' and just deliver information from the front."

But Graham Brown-Martin, founder of educational think tank Learning Without Frontiers, says technology can only go part of the way to transforming the classroom.

He said: "If we look at how digital technologies have disrupted and transformed almost every facet of our everyday lives we will see that our formal education systems are practically the last hold-out from the digital revolution. It's as if the 21st century never happened.

"Sure we have all kinds of technology thrown at education but these technologies are designed to reinforce and automate teaching practices that were formed in the 19th century. Education itself hasn't been changed by technology because we continue to maintain a fact-based curriculum that is measured by testing learners ability to recall these facts in an exam."

He added: "We need to stop thinking in terms of technology and what pervasive connectivity means when every child has immediate access to facts always. How can we develop their critical thinking skills to make good decisions based on the tsunami of information? We must think about problem-based learning and assessment rather than fact-based and then determine what is the new role of the teacher and the school within this environment."