Is 2019 the year for edtech?

Well, we already know that education secretary Damian Hinds thinks so. He used his first speech in the role to champion education technology last year. But as school budgets are squeezed tighter and tighter, is the dream that schools will be bursting with technology a bit unrealistic?

Ahead of the Bett Show, the world’s biggest edtech show, Tes spoke to Bruno Reddy and asked him just how techy he thought our schools would become this year. Reddy is the teacher behind Times Tables Rock Stars, the maths programme used by more than 12,000 primary and secondary schools worldwide. Here’s what he had to say…

… on the technology that could be entering the classroom

“There’s a wide-open space probably for virtual reality headsets, if there were lowers costs and there were more options available. I think there’s scope to transport pupils in classrooms to places they couldn’t access otherwise - whether that be in geography to faraway places or whether it’s biology, standing in a blood stream watching red blood cells go past.”

… on getting the most out of edtech

“Don’t use a hammer to crack a walnut. It doesn’t have to be edtech for it to be the right solution. If it is, it should be like a glove fitting a hand. It should be easy to see the impact, and therefore it’s self-sustaining.”

… on the critics who accuse edtech firms of peddling snake oil to schools

“If there are any snake-oil peddlers in the edtech sector, then they are doing a disservice to those people who have a lot of integrity and who have a product that makes a difference. That’s unhelpful practice. But it’s up to teachers and heads to be less gullible, which I think they are these days.”