The Government announced last week that it will be providing laptops or tablets for disadvantaged 15-year-olds and 4G routers to help some families get online. Nesta, the innovation foundation, today warns that the equipment could be a waste of resources if students aren’t helped to set it up properly and if teachers aren’t given training to ensure the technology is supporting educational aims.

A survey by TeacherTapp (1), commissioned by Nesta, has found:

• 61% of teachers agreed the attainment gap (between disadvantaged and advantaged young people) will be the biggest challenge during school closures.
• In all but the most affluent schools (2), an average of 55% of teachers were concerned about students not having sufficient equipment to engage with learning provided online.

The move from the Government is therefore welcome to help close this gap.

However, 43% of teachers think their own professional development would be the most useful investment during the current situation, suggesting that teachers would be supportive of additional training and support to get young people actively participating in virtual lessons and learning activities.

Neither the amount of equipment available nor the budget for the initiative have been announced. The Government has said the devices will be provided for some disadvantaged pupils in Year 10 - who will be taking their GCSEs next year and for those with a social worker or leaving care.

Nesta’s survey shows the lack of computers at home likely affects a considerable number of households and the need for equipment may have been woefully under estimated.

Dr Wayne Holmes, education principal researcher, Nesta said, “The moves by the Government over the last week have focused on the provision of tech and online lesson content. These are both necessary, but there hasn’t been enough attention given to supporting teachers. Teachers need training to help them transition from face-to-face teaching in classrooms, to teaching online in a way that supports learning, engagement and effective feedback and assessment.

“To avoid repeating the mistakes of earlier unsuccessful attempts to support disadvantaged children with computers (such as the One Laptop per Child initiative), pupils and parents will need comprehensive IT support, in addition to pedagogical support. This will be particularly challenging in households that have limited previous experience with computers in the home. One possible idea is for the government to establish a tech task force of furloughed IT engineers who can give support to teachers over the phone, helping them help their students get started.”

Lisa, a teacher at a college in Devon said, “It feels like with the new equipment the government has focused on the problem that’s easiest to solve. The real challenge is engagement and motivation to learn. Most of our students have phones they can access learning materials on anyway but there are more deep rooted problems.

“Some disadvantaged and vulnerable students have less parental support and might face particular challenges, such as poor literacy or ill mental health. In school they would receive extra support but that’s hard to do from afar. Supplying these students with laptops might help to solve the issues with access, but does not address other barriers, for example having the space and quiet to work in the home. For these students in particular, routine and structure is essential, schools and families need support in setting this up and maintaining it. Students may have very challenging home lives - for them coming to school is an escape, provides structure and a place to be successful. Thinking about their situations now keeps me up at night. As a college we are working hard with all our students and our safeguarding team is constantly working to reach out to them, but it’s very difficult.

“The last few weeks have been a real testament to how adaptable teachers are. We’re having to relearn pedagogy in a totally new set up and adapt safeguarding policies to communicate with children at home. Whilst there has been an incredible response at grassroots level, there is little centralised advice. What we really need is training on working across tech platforms and engaging and monitoring students progress from afar.”

Sir Mark Grundy, CEO of Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust, said, “It’s definitely a good thing that the government is sending out these tools, but the question remains as to what programmes teachers should connect to and how should the equipment be used to engage students better. Throwing resource at teachers without a strategy as to how to use it is only responding to half the problem. We now need to work together to support the government to establish a rapid training facility for staff across schools to raise understanding of how tech can be used to encourage students to learn. Currently resources like OAK online academy provide a quite specific diet. There hasn’t been enough thought over how to connect with disadvantaged students who may have a very different lifestyle at home and a different set of educational and social needs. Our Trust has many years of experience of harnessing technology to support staff, students and families and we are keen to help.

“There’s lots of innovative approaches going on within schools but it feels like we haven’t yet managed to establish a way of organising and sharing this information. We’ve turned the Free School Meal programme into more of a holistic care package. Our staff are personally delivering packages with loaves of bread and pasta to some of our most vulnerable students. This means they can keep up regular contact and have a quick chat (at a distance). We’re really proud of how our staff are putting in the extra hours to do this. This kind of programme could be adapted more broadly if there was more central support and advice.”

Footnotes

1. Teacher Tapp is the largest nationally representative survey of teachers in England. Each day at 3:30pm, over 7000 teachers answer questions about schools on their phones. The responses are re-weighted to ensure they reflect the geographical and demographic profile of the workforce across England.
2. All but the most affluent of the free school meals quintiles

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For more information contact Juliet Grant in Nesta’s press office on 020 7438 2668 or 07866 949047, [email protected] or [email protected]

Nesta_Press [email protected]

Notes to editors:

Nesta’s work in Edtech

Nesta has a long history of supporting technology in education through investments, research and policy. Their recent report, Educ-AI-tion Rebooted, shows the potential for new digital technologies to transform the education system and further research carried out earlier this year explored different models for ‘EdTech Testbeds’ found around the world. Nesta also launched the ongoing Edtech Innovation Fund and Testbed programme in partnership with Department for Education in 2019.

About Nesta

Nesta is an innovation foundation. For us, innovation means turning bold ideas into reality and changing lives for the better. We use our expertise, skills and funding in areas where there are big challenges facing society. We've spent over 20 years working out the best ways to make change happen through research and experimenting, and we've applied that to our work in innovation policy, health, education, government innovation and the creative economy and arts. Nesta is based in the UK and supported by a financial endowment. We work with partners around the globe to bring bold ideas to life to change the world for good.