Post 9 – Selling Technology Solutions & BETT

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Educational Technology is big business, Moules (2015) estimates that UK schools spending will reach nearly £1bn in acquiring technology, which raises the questions is this enough or to much and how is all this technology actually impacting on the children’s learning and development.

The chapter ‘Selling Technology Solutions’ by David Buckingham in his book beyond technologyImage result for beyond technology children's learning in the age of digital culture gives an interesting insight into the educational technology market within the UK, and the dominance of the BETT Show in facilitating educators interaction with the companies that propose to have the solutions they require.

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Watch this video to see some of the things from this year’s BETT SHOW 2017

Education and the free market, not something that you would normally associate in the same sentence however, the decentralizing of educational budgets has placed the onus of ICT expenditure onto individual schools.  Whether we agree with this of not it is hard to see emphasis being reversed and in today’s budget conscious schools the pressure on heads and ICT coordinators to spend money wisely is more evident then ever (Casio, 2014).

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Having spoke to the ICT co-coordinator during my recent placement  her concerns on how and where to spend money were clearly evident. The fact that this responsibility was not something she had wanted, combined with her lack of knowledge and understanding of technology available made it difficult for her to decide how and what could be used to further children’s learning and development.

 

The race for companies to provide e-learning solutions to educational providers is dictated by the huge profits for those that can succeed, and having visited BETT the previous year this year’s visit and the reading provided no surprises. Of interest is the comment that ICT in schools and the free market are being encouraged to work together by the government and with the rise in academy status’s individuality in school decisions on ICT spending will enable companies to profit in providing so called ‘solutions’. In defining the plethora of resources available at BETT it is understandably a mine field for teachers and ICT leaders to understand what is on offer, what could be useful and practicable with often limited ICT knowledge and experience. It was understandable that with my fellow peers our interaction with many provides was limited, there was a conscious sale pitch which was concentrated around the attendees potential  purchasing power. Once our credentials were established the enthusiasm of providers retracted, this is understandable in a sales environment and having worked in sales for many years I could understand this emphasis.

Yes there were amazing ideas, opportunities and  activities that were presented through both the hardware and software available.  The below video shows some hardware that interested me, I can see this being used in many classroom, and enables simple technology to be accessible more of the time with a variety of different uses available.

Thanks to Michael for being immersive in this photo, here was a manufacturer who was proposing classrooms with interactive projectors that covered all walls.

This was something that I felt would be a complete game changer for the current and often stake classroom environments. Having visited the newly created House Of Parliament Education center I had seen their 360º lecture room and was inspired by what could be done with this environment. During maths, all walls could be interactive with numeracy to inspire, scaffold and allow children to work in totally different way. Seeing this concept of 360º in BETT enabled me to explain to others who could clearly see potential benefits to children’s actual learning and development. However, we all agreed that the initial configuration would be very labour intensive and without enthusiasm and commitment by teachers who possibly needed training such resources would an expense that was never properly utilised.

However, for many products I struggled to see what impact this could have on children’s learning. I questioned many companies abilities to create ideas that were practical, functional and suitable for many primary schools in today’s budget cutting world. With school’s financing ever diminishing in real terms in relation to pupil numbers, ICT is seen as option to save money. Understanding where value can be added in learning by spending money on ICT may not be best placed upon teaching staff in decision making.

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An interactive clock for £24.95 seemed practical to me and justifiable but many other things were unrealistic and potentially to start-up for schools to take a risk upon purchasing.

 

There does not seem to be a centralized discussion or plan for ICT within main stream schools and I am not sure in the free market that is developing here there will ever be. Some even suggest that after concentrated efforts and huge spending over recent years children are using vastly out of date equipment.  I agree with the criticism in the reading where people are too quick to portray technology as being too important not to embrace. However , technology and the companies behind it does not have the right to make assumptions that all children will be engaged in it, all children will learn from it and that children need to have in their schools’s to progress. Technology for technologies sake is a dangerous bridge to cross, learning from and about technology must sit side by side and be designed to facilitate this and I question as to whether enough experienced teaching staff are truly consulted on developing such technology.  The corporate world and the teaching of children certainly have paths that cross, but schools should not be seen as business opportunities and this is where BETT falls down. A government centered approach would be more worth while, but government and business’s working together brings up its own challenges.

If you want to find out more then have a look at the below link to some interesting reading and blog something back about it.

School’s ICT Infrastructures

Happy Spending Teachers…….


 

Reference List:

Buckingham, D. (2007) Beyond Technology: Children’s Learning in the Age of Digital Culture. Cambridge: Polity.

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Half of UK schoolchildren are getting an education 20 years out of date. (2015) Education Journal. (231) pp.14-14

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Moules, J. (2015) UK start-ups take slice of £130bn educational technology market. The Financial Times 

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Casio, (2014) THE STATE OF UK SCHOOLS: IT EQUIPMENT, BUDGET CUTS AND THE ROLE OF OFSTED IT buyers feeling the strain as pressure mounts.  (Accessed: 01/07/17)

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3 Comments
  1. Great in depth look at BETT, I think! Last paragraph particularly interesting. Sounds like a losing battle with government and big business in cahoots. How can we as practitioners expect to combat this while still trying to be proactive and passionate ICT specialists?

  2. Thanks Michael, I think it is just part of life and the modern era that we are part of. Would be could to see some more philanthropy in education where someone like Bill Gates can help develop technology that is more suited and can be cost benefical for all to use.

  3. شركة دار الصيانة لمكافحة الحشرات هي إحدى الشركات المتخصصة في مجال مكافحة الآفات والحشرات في منطقة معينة، وتلعب دورًا حيويًا في الحفاظ على صحة البيئة وسلامة الإنسان والحيوانات الأليفة. تقدم الشركة خدمات متنوعة تشمل مكافحة النمل والصراصير والفئران والنمل الأبيض والعديد من الآفات الأخرى التي يمكن أن تؤثر على المنازل والأعمال التجارية. تعتمد شركة دار الصيانة على فريق من المحترفين والخبراء في مجال مكافحة الحشرات،
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