“Appetite grows” for new technologies as EdTech becomes part of the post-Covid learning landscape, major new report finds

More than 80% of teachers and three-quarters of school leaders began using or recommending technologies they had never used prior to the Covid-19 shutdown, according to research from according from EDUCATE Ventures Research Limited.

Almost seven out of ten — 68% — of parents used education technology (EdTech) for the first time to home-school their children as learning moved online.

The study, carried out in conjunction with Cambridge Partnership for Education and compiled over a period of nine months using surveys, questionnaires and interviews, is thought to be the most comprehensive picture of life under Covid-19 lockdown for schools, families and the technology sector yet produced.

However, the study found, decades of research into online learning was not utilised by either the government or schools to guide them on how technology should be used in an emergency situation.

The move to home-schooling forced EdTech companies to start collecting data about their users and by the Autumn of 2020 only 10% of companies were not collecting information about use and impact, which could be used to improve the efficacy of their product.

During the school lockdown, EdTech companies began to be seen as organisations that were there to help and support the move to home learning, with more than 60% of companies reporting that they offered free access to their products. Many made changes to products or services to support families, including moving access online, adding functionality or providing Covid specific restrictions, such as social distancing.

While the most pressing worry for EdTech companies in April and June 2020 was paying rent on company premises, this changed by the Autumn to concern about recruiting too many users to be able to serve them effectively. The use of EdTech also impacted positively on communication between educators, school leaders and parents.

The report predicted that the increased use of EdTech due to the Covid-19 disruption to education “could precipitate a rosy future for EdTech companies in Britain” with an expectation that “more blended learning approaches may be implemented in schools, mixing classroom and online learning, to continue the fight to reduce the detrimental impact of Covid-19 in schools and the community”. The UK EdTech sector is already the largest in Europe.

Professor Rose Luckin, professor of learner centred design at UCL Knowledge Lab and director of EDUCATE Ventures Research Limited, said: “Effective communication, support and collaboration between the different parts of the education system is essential for an effective response to the COVID-19 restrictions. Our data illustrates how EdTech companies strived to support educators, parents and learners, through connecting with their needs and collecting data to explore how well these needs were being met.”

Dr Carmel Kent, EDUCATE Ventures’ head of educational data science, said: “In carrying out this research, we wanted to listen — to teachers, to parents, to school leaders and to the EdTech companies trying to support them. We modified our research questions and methods as the lockdown evolved to bring a holistic and authentic picture of the shock waves ripping through the education system.

“This was a huge learning process, and we need to ensure those lessons are learned.”

Download the full report, Shock to the system: lessons from Covid-19 here.