A newly formed group of MPs and peers is set to scrutinise which approaches to edtech worked well for teachers during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The new all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for edtech will aim to provide a “communication link” between policymakers, parliamentarians, the technology sector and schools, according to former education secretary Damian Hinds.

Mr Hinds, who is chairing the group, said the coronavirus had “catapulted” edtech into the “minds of the living rooms” across the country.

Damian Hinds: Exams could be held partly online in future

Related: Teachers to assess edtech response to Covid-19

Google: England behind on edtech from the start of crisis

The APPG is now hoping to assess which approaches were successful during the lockdown period.

Coronavirus: Call for evidence on the use of edtech in lockdown

“One thing that has come out of [lockdown] is an opportunity to look at what worked well in terms of supporting kids in distance learning,” Mr Hinds said.

“And I am always very keen to remind people that technology is only ever a support to a programme of learning. Ultimately, it’s people that make education happen - it always has been.

“But we’ve had this opportunity to see how tech can help. In theory, we should be able to know more about how different types of technology - different types of programmes and different ways that teachers have deployed them - [and] we should, in theory, be able to learn from that for the future. I don’t mean for future lockdowns, I mean just for normal day-to-day business.

“And so partly because of that, that really spurred me into thinking now is the moment we should be forming a group in Parliament across the parties.”

The first subject that the group will address is “lessons from lockdown”, which will look at “what happened in, and what can we learn from technology deployment during the Covid-19 crisis”, Mr Hinds said.

It will then go on to discuss edtech in the context of further and higher education, and in the wider marketplace.

As part of its research, the APPG is calling on teachers to share their experiences of using edtech during the lockdown.

The “call for evidence” aims to establish “the online learning technologies, platforms and accompanying pedagogical interventions that proved most effective in supporting school-aged children during the period of nationwide school closures”.

Teachers wishing to take part can download instructions here. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Monday 5 October.