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Revealed: The 50 people, projects and products shaping the UK’s ed tech
The Edtech 50 celebrates the work of the education technology sector in the UK, and shines a spotlight on those pioneering a new future in education through technology
In 2017, we saw innovative, creative and exciting educational technology transform teaching and learning throughout the UK’s schools.
From vlogging teachers to student wellbeing apps to an interactive book experience, schools, companies and technologists have pushed classrooms into the future and provided pupils with new tools for learning, interacting and living.
And today, the Edtech 50 celebrates them.
The list, published by Edtech UK in partnership with Jisc, shines a spotlight those who have helped to shape the dynamic education technology sector in the past year.
Included are Women EdTech, Tes FE Awards winner Basingstoke College of Technology and maths teacher and times-table enthusiast Bruno Ready.
Also named were Global Teacher Prize finalist Colin Hegarty; Sam Chaudhary, co-founder of the popular communication app ClassDojo; and the ImOKayApp, which has helped thousands of pupils by providing real-life stories about sexuality and gender, simple definitions and support services.
Ed tech ‘can transform lives’
Jisc CEO Paul Feldman said: “When done right, ed tech has the potential to transform lives for the better, helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their full potential, and helping us to build the digital skills base that will be so critical to the UK’s global competitiveness in the years to come.
“The Edtech 50 show us how education technology can be a catalytic force for digital innovation in teaching and learning in partnership and collaboration with teachers and learners.”
Education secretary Damian Hinds said: “Technology offers educators a wealth of opportunities to support effective and proven teaching practices, as well as increased support for themselves, their institutions and their students. However, we know it can sometimes be difficult to implement new technology or gain access to the evidence and equipment educators need.
“The benefits of digital technology are often seen as innovation that only digital experts can achieve, but that shouldn’t be the case. This is why the sector must come together to support this change. I welcome this new initiative to highlight and celebrate many of the people, products and projects that have most impacted education.”
Ty Goddard, director of Edtech UK, said: “The Edtech50 has been chosen from a mixture of public nominations and the insight of our judging panel. It has been a challenging and exciting process.
“The Edtech50 helps us all celebrate a wonderful sector, whilst recognising the benefits of education technology, and acknowledging the economic advantages of the growing edtech sector to the whole UK economy.”
The EdTech 50 was compiled by public nomination and the insight of the judging panel.
The judges included: ICT evangelist Mark Anderson; learning technology apprentice at Basingstoke College of Technology, Sky Caves; entrepreneur and investor Sherry Coutu; director of education at Microsoft UK, Ian Fordham; principal of Portsmouth College, Steve Frampton; director at the Education Foundation, Ty Goddard; Jisc’s futurist, Martin Hamilton; headteacher Claire Price; entrepreneur and investor Dan Sandhu; programme director for digital schoolhouse at UKIE, Shahneila Saeed; teacher Bukky Yusuf; and IT director Peter O’Rourke.
The Edtech 50
PEOPLE
1. Naimish Gohil (@Team_Satchel)
2. Vikki Liogier (@vikkiliogier)
3. Sam Chaudhary (@samchaudhary_)
4. Duncan Wilson (@Classcharts)
5. Martin McKay (@texthelp)
6. Dr Ross Parry (@rossparry)
7. Bethany Koby (@bethanykoby)
8. Vivi Friedgut @ViviFriedgut
9. Maths x5
- Andrew Hall
- Colin Hegarty @hegartymaths (pictured)
- Bruno Reddy @MrReddyMaths
- Tom Minor & Nicola Chilman @DoodleMaths
10. Katy Potts @katypotts
12. Paul Rose @YouTeachMe
13. Funders - six of the best
- Richard Taylor @dick_taylor
- Bhav Singh
- Saul Klein OBE
- Omidyar Network
- Founders Factory co-founder, Brent Hoberman (@brenthoberman)
- Emerge Education
14. Melissa Highton
15. Laura Paterson (@SCi_TechEDU)
16. Bertie Hubbard (@Bertie_Hubbard/@MyTutor)
17. Educators
- Kellie Williams (@kellie_digital)
- José Picardo (@josepicardo)
- Osi Ejiofor (@osistechtips)
- Ian Phillips (@IanHabs/ @Habsboys)
- Dom Norrish (@domnorrish)
- Abbie Davies
- Adul Chohan (@abdulchohan)
- Ollie Bray (@KingussieHigh/ @olliebray)
- Peter Rafferty (@raff31)
- Carol Allen (@caroljallen)
- Deborah Kelsey (@DebKellsey)
PRODUCTS
18. SpyQuest @SpyQuest (pictured)
20. Night Zookeeper @nightzookeeper
22. now>press>play
23. Curiscope @curiscope
24. Clicker7 Crick Software @Cricksoft
29. Firefly
30. Kano
31. GIS 4 Schools Esri UK (@GIS4Schools)
32. Little Bridge
33. Kortext
34. Minecraft Edu
PROJECTS
37. Basingstoke College of Technology (@BCoT) (pictured)
38. The Shirelands Team, Smethwick, West Midlands (@ShirelandCA/ @ShirelandTP)
40. Flipped Learning/Online Resource, HELM Open
41. Coding for the Future: Five exceptional and far-sighted coding related projects:
- Code Kingdoms
- Code Club
- Project Torino, Microsoft
- Teaching London Computing & the cs4fn Project(@teachingLDNcomp)
42. Women Edtech (@WomenEd_Tech)
43. Edtech Podcast @PodcastEdtech
44. Power of the network/s
- Microsoft Innovative Educator #MIEExpert (@microsofteduk)
- Google certified educator #GoogleCE (@GoogleForEdu)
- Apple Distinguished Educator #AppleTeacher (@AppleEDU)
45. Glow Programme, Scotland
46. National Digital Learning Council, Wales
48. Blended Learning Consortium / Heart of Worcestershire College
49. Pioneering imaginative employability approaches
50. Developing digital skills: Four exceptional computing and digital skills initiatives
- Barefoot Computing project
- Computing At School
- BT STEM Apps for Good
- BAFTA Young Games Designers
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