If last year taught us anything, it’s that nothing can truly replace face to face teaching and  learning. Now schools are fully open, teachers and school leaders are looking at ways to redesign the education experience, whilst keeping tried-and-trusted pedagogical concepts in place.

In last year’s State of Technology in Education Report, it was agreed by educators that this fast-tracked digitisation of learning has brought huge opportunities, but also significant drawbacks.

1. Hybrid learning

The pandemic exposed the faultlines in educators’ ability to facilitate teaching outside the classroom, as many weren’t confident or proficient enough in using the edtech they would come to rely on. Educators were forced into a reactive mode when some of their conventional teaching practices were no longer viable.

To meet the most important school priorities, hybrid learning strategies highlighted the importance of the role of the teacher and social connection, while sensitive to changing staff and student needs. Edtech was instrumental to achieving this, in and out the classroom.

2. Pupil engagement 

Educators and pupils became reliant on remote tools to stay connected to each other. And while technology has been pivotal to home learning, that doesn’t mean pupils were getting a better education because of it. 

In fact, according to TES, the attainment gap has widened during the coronavirus lockdown, with larger gaps emerging among primary school age pupils.

3. Access to technology

During the past 12 months, one of the greatest reported hurdles was students’ access to essential edtech. Globally, less than 20% of the world’s population have access to broadband, and for the students who do, they experienced a ‘lockdown learning fatigue’ contributing to an engagement drop of 30%. Staff, too, suffered a shortage of crucial equipment to facilitate remote teaching — only 38% of respondents told Teacher Tapp’s lockdown survey that they have a platform for setting work remotely. See how Promethean’s new technologies could benefit your classroom now schools are fully open, with a virtual demo.