Are you happy with your edtech solutions?

Are you happy with your edtech solutions? Will they satisfy Ofsted’s focus next term?

The last few months have represented a significant, and unprecedented, challenge for our schools. And not just in terms of online learning delivery, but also in terms of keeping parents in the loop, teachers in the know and keeping up with the latest briefings from the DofE. 

In their spare time (ahem), school leadership teams have had to ensure their teaching community is suitably equipped to deliver learning not only in school, but also remotely and increasingly taking a blended learning approach, that could mean some time in school and some time at home for all students. No mean feat!

Do you have the best-in-class solutions in place?

During this time most if not all schools have turned to the education technology they already had in place to deliver what was needed, so now the big question is whether the systems you had in place have proven to be effective enough or whether there may be better options on the market that are worth your consideration. 

With the prospect of future disruption to learning still to come, now really is the ideal time to consider conducting an EdTech audit and review whether you have the best in class providers on board. Educational technology is on the rise, and with this resurgence comes a plethora of products to choose from.

Within any school environment, the systems you have in place should be there to make automation of the most mundane tasks quick and easy, so that teachers can focus their time and effort where it’s needed most. It’s also an opportunity to find the tools that can deliver on multiple tasks, not just one, inevitably saving schools both time and money in managing multiple platforms. 

It’s these innovative solutions that should be catching your attention now, and will be well worth your time in the long term, not least in light of Ofsted’s announcement this week about their focus from September. In a move away from the norm, Ofsted have confirmed that their programme of visits for the upcoming term will look at the provision of ‘blended learning’, the mix of on-site and remote education that schools provide. 

10 key questions

With this in mind, we’ve put together the top 10 questions you should ask yourself when reviewing the EdTech solutions you have in place to support blended learning. And essentially, whatever product you decide to choose will need to be able to clearly evidence the support it offers to a blended learning approach. 

1. Do all teaching staff use your EdTech products regularly? And if not, why not?
2. What problem do they solve for you – and are they capable of solving more than one problem, to save you money on multiple apps?
3. How good is your parent communication app – are parents more engaged with the learning progress of their children than previously? Can you quickly and easily communicate live? If your school community needs translation capability, then you need to consider providers that can offer this as one of their features
4. How do parents communicate with your school? Some apps offer two-way communication, as well as translation into a parent’s preferred language, to make sure everyone’s included
5. Can you get product support quickly? Either in the form of tutorials, for the less tech-savvy amongst us, or live chat functionality for parents and carers to save your office team fielding calls they may struggle to answer
6. Does the technology you use for teaching and learning prepare your students for the future? Technology-led learning increases digital knowledge amongst young people to prepare them to blend in with the tech-savvy world we live in and the most responsive platforms use a social learning interface that’s familiar and easy to use
7. Does your EdTech automate mundane tasks, leaving more time for teachers to focus their efforts where they’re needed most?
8. Can they link and integrate with other teaching and learning platforms for seamless reporting and ease of use? Consolidating from multiple apps to one can reduce costs and ensure you only have to log in once, giving all your reporting in one place
9. Is your approach personalised? Using the right EdTech can help facilitate a more personalised approach to learning, where teachers can create learning methods to suit the different needs of learners. Consequently, students can learn at their own pace and use their preferred methods
10. Can your functionality encourage collaboration in learning? The right EdTech can also facilitate and encourage collaboration in learning, with specific functionality to make the selection of groups and the co-ordination of their learning easier than ever before.

When the focus is on the effective use of educational technology, you really can experience great benefits and enhance traditional teaching and learning processes.

Closing thoughts

As you review what’s on offer, you should also consider that, in an increasingly connected world, the familiarity of the social learning environments that are increasingly popular are well suited to engage the learners of today in ways traditional learning delivery may struggle.

Undoubtedly making the commitment to review your choices now, will pay dividends in the short and long term for your entire school community, not least if Ofsted come knocking in the upcoming term and you need to evidence quickly and easily how you’re supporting a blended learning approach.

Saving time - and importantly, your budget!

Carrying out your own edtech audit will give you the clarity you need to make the right choices and be confident you’re investing in the right EdTech solutions for your school.

This will help you assess whether you’re getting value for money from the tools you use and also whether they’re aligned with your own goals in your school improvement plan.

So, how can our team help?

Unlike other EdTech providers, we replace the need for multiple apps, both saving your teachers time and schools money.

We’re a social learning platform, making use of the familiarity of a social media platform, coupled with the insight of AI, to deliver unrivalled choices for schools, all in one easy-to-use app.

With imminent development facilitating whole class discussions that work seamlessly remotely and in class, and as our implementations across sports organisations gain momentum in the coming weeks, Kinteract has more to offer than ever before.

Kinteract is:

• ‍‍A digital learning record for life, tracking student progress mapped to any curriculum and portable throughout a student's education and beyond
• Integrated with other teaching and learning apps - including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, G-Suite and Microsoft 365
• Remote teaching platform - set classwork, homework (with deadline dates and the ability to schedule posts in advance!), upload multiple files, photos and images as well as integrating with live video lesson delivery apps
• Curriculum linked, enabling teachers to use hashtags to track posts and live lessons against curricula
• Provides reporting to enable you to evidence learning progress both quickly and easily

Our on-boarding and training are straightforward to implement across your school, with comprehensive support to help you throughout the process, so you can be up and running in no time.

Make the first move and see how Kinteract is changing learning. Book a 1-2-1 demo (at a time to suit you) to see how we can work with your school and make sure you're offering the best in class to your students.