Education secretary aims for ‘digital revolution’ in schools
Bridget Phillipson, the secretary of state for education, has set out plans for a ‘digital revolution’ in schools, including mandatory training on using assistive technology to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Addressing Bett, a major EdTech event, in London last week she said she had hope ‘for a brighter future for our children – delivered by a digital revolution in education’. This will include the new training on assistive technology, which she said would become part of national training for all new teachers ‘in 2025’. Evidence from pilot studies indicates that shows that readily-available technology, such as dictation tools or text to speech software, can be a key part of high-quality teaching for SEND pupils. However, between 2021 and 2023, only 13 per cent of teachers received training on accessibility features.
Acknowledging that there were concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), and that it would pose ‘challenges’, Ms Phillipson said the Department for Education (DfE) would be updating its policy position on AI to give schools and colleges ‘clarity and encouragement on how to use AI in the classroom’. She went on to say: ‘Each great moment of technological change throughout history came with fears for an unfamiliar future. But I know AI can be a radical, modernising force for change, a force for good in the lives of working people and I am so excited for what it means for education.’ She noted that the DfE’s Technology in Schools survey shows more than two thirds of school leaders reported that pupil attainment has been bolstered by use of technology in education, and pledged to ‘take up this great new technological era to modernise our education system, to back our teachers and to deliver for our children across the country.’ She also said her vision was for a system ‘in which teachers are set free by AI and other technologies, less marking, less planning, less form filling’.
On safety, Ms Phillipson announced that a number of global tech firms have jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon are amongst the firms who have helped develop the AI Product Safety Expectations in Education framework, which will set out clear technical safeguards - including prioritising child-centred design and enhanced filtering of harmful content. According to the government it is the most detailed set of safety expectations for AI in education anywhere in the world. There will also be a new package of training and guidance for teachers and leaders, which will aim to help them realise the time-saving benefits of AI safely and with confidence. These training resources will be developed by the Chiltern Learning Trust with the Chartered College of Teaching and should be ready in spring of this year.
The DfE will also launch a new service, ‘Plan Technology for Your School’, to help schools invest in technology based on a personalised assessment of their needs. The service will focus on essential technology that ensures schools are compliant with digital standards, aiming to give them the digital foundations required to start harnessing the full potential of technology to transform teaching. A new ‘EdTech Evidence Board’ will also be piloted. The pilot will be delivered by the Chartered College of Teaching, and will explore effective ways to build evidence of AI products that work well, helping education settings feel confident that they are choosing products that work well for them and for their classrooms.
In the speech the secretary of state also highlighted the potential for technology to support not just teachers, but also leaders and finance professionals. She noted that the ‘View Your Education’ data tool allows every secondary school, academy trust and local authority in the country to view, download and share a new attendance data summary. Ms Phillipson also suggested that the ‘DfE Connect’ service, which currently supports leaders and administrators in mainstream pre-16 academies with standard mandatory finance tasks and to source funding information more quickly, would be developed and expanded. Potentially this could mean DfE Connect being rolled out to all state schools eventually.
Commenting on the speech, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union: ‘We are pleased to see the focus on training for teachers in the use of digital tools. The Government's ambitions must also be matched by significant investment in technology and IT infrastructure for schools. We need to be mindful, however, of the workload implications of introducing new technology and the training that goes with it. Teacher workload is already unacceptably high. Tech in itself must not be seen as the solution nor a distraction from the urgent talks that are needed to address it.’
Also commenting, Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: ‘We agree with the secretary of state that AI can help to reduce teacher workloads and that this should in turn help to address the recruitment and retention crisis – but this will not be enough on its own. As things stand many schools and colleges face the prospect of having to make further cuts to their budgets next year – something which may also make it difficult to invest in new technology.’