Making the shift from EdTech to PedTech

Have you ever wondered about the impact of using digital technology to support learning?

Schools, suppliers, policy makers and researchers have all grappled with this question for a long time, and despite the wide-ranging discussion, the thorny issue of impact is still one which the sector struggles to articulate.

Until now.

In 2019, we embarked upon a journey of digital transformation, investing significant time, money and human energy into an ambitious new future. Since then, every student and every member of staff has enjoyed free access to their own Chromebook, changing the way teachers teach and children learn. We have become known for our pioneering and pathfinding approach to embedding digital technology, regularly sharing our work with the sector.

Four years on, we commissioned Dr Fiona Aubrey Smith to undertake a year-long, in-depth research project on the use of technology across all schools in LEO Academy Trust. Her report, Changing Learning. Changing Lives. What happens when EdTech becomes PedTech, presents the findings on the role technology has played in raising standards and transforming practice.

This report opens, unpacks and dissects the ingredients which LEO have put in place, drawing upon a combination of 4,500 survey responses, 606 documents, 154 observations, 65 interviews, 24 focus groups and hundreds of hours of professional discussion and reflection. The consequent report presents a comprehensive analysis as a narrative, a series of findings (about successes as well as about how challenges have been overcome), and a set of recommendations for the future - for the benefit of both the LEO community, and for the wider educational landscape. Globally, this is the first fully independent research to probe into every aspect of trust provision to surface the impact of digital technology.

The full report will be published on this page on 14 December. In the meantime, a brief executive summary can be read on our website:

www.leoacademytrust.co.uk/PedTechImpactReport

You will be able to see exactly how robust academic research findings lead to high impact lived experiences for teachers and children today. Something that every learner and every professional deserves.

You are warmly invited (and encouraged!) to be part of this global shift - From #EdTech to #PedTech