More than half of heads do not believe that their school takes full advantage of the benefits of technology, new research shows.

A YouGov survey on behalf of TES reveals that 54 per cent of heads believe that their school could do more to utilise technology.

The concern is echoed more widely among senior leaders, with 51 per cent of assistant heads and 52 per cent of other leaders saying that not enough is made of ed tech in school.

Mark Chambers, chief executive of ICT subject association Naace, said: “I’m almost embarrassed to say that I am not surprised. The reason for it is that we are working in a system that is afraid to take risks.”

The roots of this attitude were “complex”, he added, but too often technology was not taken seriously enough in schools, particularly among heads. “When it comes to using technology, there are too many school leaders who proudly profess their allergy to it.”

The survey comes as a report from the British Educational Suppliers Association (Besa) and Naace found that nearly half of all schools are being forced to slash their ICT budgets.

The cuts come as headteachers predict a rise in the amount of teaching and learning time that will involve technology.

This article is an edited version of one that appears in the 15 January issue of TES. Pick up a copy of this week’s TES magazine in print or online and get a free ed tech supplement. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here. Or find the magazine in all good newsagents. 

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