Several reasons lie behind this growth. Of course, rising internet penetration in households around the world has paved the way. Another reason is the increasing importance of STEM education around the world – key for clearing highly competitive university entrance exams as well as it leading to increased job opportunities – and the leg up online tutoring can provide. Yet the most compelling reason is the motivations and behaviours shared by those behind the demand – Generation Z.

Widely defined as those born between 1995 to 2010, Generation Z is the largest generation in the world, comprising 32% of the global population, and is the first to have grown up as true digital natives – immersed in digital technology, the Internet, and social media throughout their lives. Exposure to technology from an early age has produced a generation that expects connectivity and instant access as standard, but one that is also comfortable with collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information, as well as integrating virtual and offline experiences. The vast amounts of information at their disposal are enabling them to be more analytical in their decision making than previous generations, with 65% of those surveyed in a report from McKinsey last year saying they particularly value knowing what is going on around them and being in control. Raised at a time of global economic stress, Generation Z are also more responsible and pragmatic than Millennials, keenly aware of the need to save for the future as well as tending to value job stability over high salaries.

It’s no surprise then that this generation should be particularly comfortable with online tutoring. The flexibility and instant access online tutoring offers are ideal for self-directed and responsible Gen Z learners who are looking to supplement their day-to-day studies and are used to seamlessly integrating online and offline experiences.

The market around online tutoring is rapidly developing and expanding in terms of features that are available to meet young peoples’ needs: self-assessment tools, chat features, interactive whiteboards, file sharing, and the ability to consult with tutors behind the scenes or tap into a supportive peer network – particularly important for Gen Zers who have social media as a central part of their lives. Young people can access exactly what they want in terms of study and career development, and parents are given more options to help improve their children’s academic results.

Young people should nevertheless weigh up the pros and cons of online tutoring to fit their needs. On one hand, technical issues, the availability and vetting of quality tutors, as well as the issue of ensuring student motivation through remote learning are just some potential challenges to bear in mind. On the other hand, flexibility to access tutoring around busy schedules, the ability to access more than one expert on particular subjects, and tailored packages that save time and money by not locking a student into regular appointments they may not need are just some of the advantages.

Just like Millennials before them, Generation Z are disrupting the provision of education itself, and the onus is on educators and EdTechs to understand and meet their needs. A Barnes and Noble College study of 1,300 American middle and high school students found that Generation Z expect on-demand services with low barriers to access – learning for this cohort isn’t limited to just the classroom; it’s something that can take place anywhere, at any time. They also tend to be more career-focused earlier on in their college careers and are increasingly becoming the directors of their own futures – almost 13% surveyed in the study already have their own business, and an additional 22% plan to own a business in the future. All these things must be considered by those trying to reach this group of learners. An awareness of Generation Z’s online and social media habits, providing updated and meaningful content, and enabling the widest possible level of personalisation will be crucial for educators and EdTechs trying to make the biggest impact.

The Premier League (PL) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have partnered with one another to use their reach and appeal to encourage primary school children across England and Wales to celebrate diversity.

United by a shared goal to encourage inclusion and inspire people to respect and value individual differences, the sporting organisations have created ‘Roar! for Diversity’, a curriculum-linked PSHE resource and competition for 7-11-year olds. The pack includes lesson plans and video resources featuring contributions from England cricketers Adil Rashid, Sophia Dunkley and Chris Edwardes (Captain of the Men’s Learning Disability Cricket Team), as well as  Premier League match official Sian Massey-Ellis.

The headteacher, Mark Rigby, and I were really pleased when our school – Lawrence Community Primary School in Wavertree, Liverpool – was chosen for the Roar! for Diversity campaign launch. Our pupils come from all over the world – 28 languages are spoken and 88% of our pupils (we have a 414-pupil roll) speak English as an additional language (EAL). 

We already have strong links with the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, so we knew the children were in for a lovely surprise when Liverpool Football club player Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cricket World Cup winning Captain Eoin Morgan made their surprise appearance. 

It’s a privilege to work in our school. We have bilingual staff and when children first arrive we have support ready and in place for all our EAL children to help with their social language (general vocabulary, how to ask to go to the toilet, etc.) as well as technical language (vocabulary to support their academic achievement). We use lots of visuals and first hand experiences including educational visits in order to support the language development of all our pupils.

A lot of children who arrive may not have prior experience of schooling and may not even speak any English, so need a lot of help with their vocabulary and with settling into school. Settling the children, easing their fears and welcoming them to into the school community are vital first priorities. The Roar! for Diversity resources will help us to ensure every single child feels welcome and included by the whole school.

We already do a lot of work on diversity with all the children. We work with the Anthony Walker Foundation, and through them, all the children have signed up to pledge to respect one another, no matter what their race, religion, ability or appearance. 

We also do all sorts of sports – all the usual sports such as cricket and football, but our pupils also have opportunities to experience pony riding, water sports, boccia, new age kurling and many others. Many of our pupils wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to do all these sports as we’re located in a deprived area and it would be unaffordable for many families. However, we believe there’s a sport for everyone and the range of sports mean children will shine at something.

We encourage everybody to participate and cooperation between one another is really encouraged. The children soon appreciate that it’s the participation rather than the winning that counts.

I recall how one KS1 child came to the school speaking little English but through lots of sport participation he learnt things like shaking hands, teamwork, etc. Then a few years later, during a mayor visit, he went up to him – totally unprompted – to shake his hand, saying it was a pleasure to meet him. He was reflecting the values that sport and the school environment had taught him – values such as working together, greeting one another and showing respect for one another. It was a very proud moment.

I welcome the Roar! for Diversity resources as a great addition to some PSHE project work the whole school has previously worked on. There is an emphasis, from nursery upwards, on celebrating differences and working together to be friends – mirroring how sports teams work. This is also reflected in our curriculum intent, based on respecting one another, being open minded, active, independent, respectful, resilient, creative and forward thinking. Sport helps to develop these qualities. 

It has been fantastic to have the players from ECB and LFC here and see the children so engaged with the Roar! for Diversity resources. It will be a day the children will always remember.

The resources are available to download for free from PLPrimaryStars.com and ECB’s schools’ partner, ChanceToShine.org. The Key Stage 2 resource will enable teachers to discuss with their class how diversity within a team helps to make it stronger. Pupils can then create an advert celebrating diversity which can be entered into a competition and can win match tickets or a school visit from the Premier League or Cricket World Cup trophies.

I have long been a believer in the power of personalising (adaptive) retrieval practice as a means of underwriting students’ base knowledge and helping them to make huge improvements in their academic performance. This is why I built Tassomai for my students in the first place, and I have seen its impact first-hand. Finding the evidence to give other educators the confidence to use Tassomai and support its proper implementation in their settings, however, has been a major undertaking.

Assessing the impact of any strategy or intervention is a notoriously difficult task, particularly when one considers the external factors at play in any given setting that can dramatically affect the results. When decisions around purchasing or adequately resourcing implementation strategy comes into play, the requirement to show evidence becomes increasingly vital to school leaders.

It’s no less of a vexing question for providers like me: finding evidence of impact is crucial to decision-making processes around the development of products and content, and to be able to assure customers that their investment will prove to be time and money well-spent.

We’ve conducted many trials and experiments over the years to measure impact – and pride ourselves in being a leader in research-led, evidenced EdTech. Having completed an impact study with the IoE into the effect of our videos on knowledge retrieval and retention, Tassomai was awarded an EdWard from UCL. Our correlative analysis on 60,000+ exam results against usage in the product has been well-publicised, showing that over 90% of high users achieved a strong pass in their GCSE.

The challenge, however, was to investigate the effect of our adaptive, personalised spaced retrieval practice on students’ academic progress – we wanted to demonstrate that, whatever the prior attainment, using Tassomai would increase outcomes.

In short, the experiment was a pre and post test of student subject knowledge on what we term ‘mastery questions’. We looked at the data of around 1,500 students around the UK who used Tassomai between September 2018 and May 2019, separated the lower and higher ability based on how they fared on quizzes in their first month of use, and then looked at how their scores in mastery questions improved over time.

Our results showed that, in both groups, students improved in test scores and that this improvement increased with increased usage. Superimposing the graphs for each user type against their respective baselines of attainment, however, showed that the effect of the program was to close the attainment gap between them.

We continue to conduct research on mass cohort data and in collaboration with schools and universities. If you would like your school to participate in a study, please get in touch as we’d love to work with you.

Tassomai is an adaptive learning software that supports students in science, maths and English at KS3 and KS4. Using principles of behavioural and cognitive science, the program provides intelligent, personalised daily retrieval exercises for students that teach, test and reinforce knowledge. Teachers and SLT access data on student engagement and understanding through a live-marked interactive PLC to plan schemes of work and intervention.

To learn more about Tassomai’s impact in schools, visit: https://edtechimpact.com/products/tassomai.

At the same time, how does an edtech developer prove their product is impactful and fit for purpose?

The truth is, it isn’t easy. One way might be to publish evaluations of outcomes showing pupil progress from a recognised baseline over time, following the use of their platform or learning tool. However reliable and robust such a study is, though, it might be open to question about its veracity. After all, edtech innovators are in the business of building commercial products.

Another is to have that effectiveness verified with a quality mark to show that specific criteria have been met. Participants to the UCL EDUCATE research accelerator programme have a chance to do so by applying for the accelerator’s own quality mark, the EdWard.

In line with UCL EDUCATE’s core belief in the need to build an evidence base of edtech, recipients can apply to be rewarded with one of two levels of EdWard: Evidence-Aware or Evidence-Applied, depending on the extent to which they have met the set criteria. 

For the companies, working towards, and achieving, an EDUCATE EdWard is a process of reflection, self-challenge and, ultimately, the satisfaction of having achieved a formal recognition. For many, it has facilitated conversations with prospective clients because they have something to show for the success of their involvement with the programme, and their approach to research.

What it means for edtech companies to be “evidence-aware”

Recipients of the Evidence-Aware mark must demonstrate an understanding of UCL EDUCATE’s unique evidence-led approach and have understood the importance of using research evidence, by acknowledging pedagogical expertise and knowledge.

Moktar Alqaderi, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Progressay, which receives an Evidence-Aware EdWard, said: “As a hallmark of educational excellence, the EdWard has really helped us to validate our product. Now we are gaining a reputation for being an EdTech start-up that is rooted in evidence, which is important because schools deserve to use tech that is proven to work. 

“We boast of our EdWard with pride as it is a sign of our dedication and commitment to evidence-based research and lets our partners and customers know, too.”

Why edtech companies should be “evidence-applied”

Companies who receive the Evidence-Applied mark have demonstrated that awareness to research by applying it to improve the quality of delivery or development of their product. In some cases, Evidence-Applied recipients will have reviewed their idea or concept in the light of research evidence, to finesse their work. They will also have carried out their own research to evaluate the effectiveness of their product as it evolves.

Bella Alexandroff, Senior Fundraising Manager of Founders4Schools, which has achieved an Evidence-Applied Edward, said: “EDUCATE has not only given us the tools to evidence our impact, but also highlighted the importance of a robust monitoring and evaluation framework which is now integrated into our EdTech service allowing us to collect and evaluate data on a continuous basis. The EdWard is the acknowledgement of that.”

Participants who receive the EdWard mark can use it on their websites and marketing material, signalling to prospective users and customers that the product or service they offer has a sound basis in research, and its impact has been evidenced by what works and is effective in teaching and learning.

Professor Rose Luckin, Director of EDUCATE and Professor of Learner Centred Design at UCL Knowledge Lab, said: “EdWard recipients represent what makes the UK a world leader in EdTech development – innovation, creativity, commitment and enthusiasm – all of which are in abundance among these companies. They are among the very best in their field, anywhere.”

To learn more about how to get an EdWard, and how to add it to your EdTech Impact page (like Pobble and Tassomai), visit the UCL EDUCATE website.

Long have we seen the rise of science and computing programs ostensibly designed for girls in our schools, and although this seems to be working for science, this does not appear to be the case for computing. In 2014, approximately 40% of entries for the ICT exam were from girls – but 5 years later, they don’t seem to be taking up computing in the same numbers. Computing, it would appear, is not alone in this respect. The Durham Commission reported this week an overall downturn of entries in Media, Film, the Performing Arts and Design Technology, and is a crucial read for any teacher! 

In its annual analysis of GCSE entries, the Wise Campaign this year reported that entries across the UK in Design & Technology were down significantly once again for both boys and girls, the latter by 29% – although, as with computing, those girls that did take these subjects consistently outperformed boys. We seem to be in danger of losing female talent.

It’s clear, we still have a long way to go for girls and not a lot of time to fill that widening digital skills gap.

A Microsoft report on “How role models are changing the face of STEM” stated: “The number of UK girls interested in STEM increases when they have role models compared to those who do not (30% of girls without a role model report an interest in STEM subjects, versus 41% with role models) The reverse is also true, that having a role model significantly reduces the number of UK girls who say that they are less interested in STEM subjects (43% of girls without a role model are less interested in STEM subjects, versus 28% of girls with a role model)” 

Where are the female role models in our schools? 

Dig deep into the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) data for 2018-2019, and you might spot a few differences between male and female role models in certain subjects. Whilst most STEM subjects were equally represented by men, others were not. There were significant differences in Computing ITT trainees where 68% were male and 32% female last year, and there were still fewer women teaching Physics (29%). What’s that saying…’If you can’t see it, you can’t be it?’.

Gender stereotypes in GCSE entries across a range of arts have also grown over the past five years, with an emergence of a bigger gap between the numbers of boys and girls taking GCSE music and performing arts, blamed largely on the EBacc. Interestingly, 74% of ITT trainees in drama were female. Perhaps ‘seeing it’ and ‘being it’ works both ways.

What about our leadership? Yes, we have female leaders in STEM and other subjects, and yes, we have amazing computing role models I hear you cry… and I entirely agree. But, these sadly appear to be the exception rather than the rule, as a quick look at the School leadership in England 2010 to 2016: characteristics and trends DfE report published in 2018 will show you. 

As their analysis pointed out, one reason for this could be the speed of career progression for women, or rather the lack of it. They state: “… career progression to both first leadership and headteacher roles was on average faster for male teachers than their female counterparts”.

How can we make sure we seek the best talent regardless of gender?

The answer, I believe, is to make sure we continue to fight stereotypes within our schools, in lessons and in professional contexts. The truth is, we need both men and women equally represented in areas of leadership, and as role models for our young people across all subjects. Sadly, at the moment, there are still far too many imbalances. With around 3 out of 4 school teachers being female, we should not be short of talent…. So, why not go and check out your staff room. I bet there is loads in there.

For further reading and practical advice to close gender gaps in your school, visit The Gender Equality Collective website.

Formation

Having begun as a software house in 2006, Derventio entered the education sector with a visionary desire to improve schools, colleges and training organisations in such a vibrant and rewarding industry. Managing Director, Stuart Reece had previously successfully designed and written education languages software that were used in a range of organisations. A conversation with Sir Mark Grundy (now CEO of Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust) identified the need for software to support schools in their efforts to achieve improvement and maintain high standards. Mark commented that edtech should not to be used for the sake of it, but instead, should be a key tool to efficiently improve standards in education and have clear measurable outcomes. This is at the heart of the software being offered by Derventio Education to schools, colleges and training organisations.

Developing Edtech

Initially, Derventio developed electronic self-evaluation forms that were developed to support schools with their inspection preparations and ongoing school improvement. This allowed multiple senior leaders to collaborate on live working documents. The functionality, based on customer requirements, was later expanded to include staff appraisals, improvement planning, lesson observations/monitoring and managing continual professional development. The integration of these key processes has enabled a strategic approach to improvement which has seen hundreds of schools choose SchooliP.

With improvement planning applicable to all phases of education and the private sector, product offerings were expanded. CollegeiP was developed to support further education colleges and for universities, there is UniversityiP. A particular highlight is the recent development of Alto supporting the Ministry of Defence with Alto, a solution that facilitates the management of training portfolios and education provision. Working with a diverse range of institutions has led to a comprehensive customer base that has furthered a detailed understanding of education. Derventio appreciate that the world of education is constantly evolving and; therefore, enhances its software based on customer needs.

Sustained Success

Success of Derventio Education is attributed to listening. As development experts, bespoke solutions are created to meet customer requirements and deliver satisfaction. Customer account meetings, with account managers with an education background, ensures regular conversations with senior leaders to determine development road maps. As a result, there is a heightened awareness of the demands of the sector and Derventio are able to stay ahead of trends in an ever-changing environment.

Despite appraisal being sometimes perceived as a mundane process, having an electronic portfolio of evidence is invaluable. Teachers and support staff are easily able to demonstrate their strengths and identify key areas for development. Ensuring teachers have the opportunity to develop their skills is paramount to advancing teaching and learning. Therefore; products have evolved focused on improving the quality of teaching and organisation improvement.

The Future

Education is moving towards a more collaborative approach with the creation of multi-academy trusts, groups and federations. As these organisations become larger, so does the need to align and create efficient systems. They allow increased purchasing power to make informed decisions. In recognition of this, Derventio’s solutions are evolving to cater to the needs of education and for greater collaboration.

The advancement of technology represents an exciting time. Having already embraced web-based tech and mobile development, the challenge is to create products to make organisations more efficient and avoid the repetition of processes in multiple systems. With the increased usage of mobile/tablet devices by educators, plans are afoot to increase the functionality of mobile applications. Increased functionality and links with a commitment to reduce teacher workloads and allow teachers more time to do their role of teaching rather than administrative tasks. Derventio is proud to be at the forefront of education and actively assist academic institutions to maintain their integrity and ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

For more information about SchooliP’s impact in UK schools, visit: https://edtechimpact.com/products/schoolip.

Of course, many of the most regular mistakes were of concepts that are hard to learn such as punctuation in the grammar, punctuation and spelling paper and fractions in the maths paper, but others are easily avoidable mistakes that often lead to unnecessarily lost marks. So, in reverse order, here is my run down of needless mistakes that, with a little practice, can help your students to avoid deducted marks. I’ve included free access to our Question Sets to help your students re-learn and refine their skills before the big day!

In fifth place we have a section from the grammar, punctuation and spelling paper, namely ‘ly’ adverbs. Children often come unstuck here because they have learned that most adverbs end in ‘ly’ and of course many do, but others don’t.

The reason I have picked this common mistake is not only because it’s easily avoidable but also because in the 2018 SATs paper, pupils were tested specifically on this understanding. The following Question Sets from Using and Identifying Adverbs and Express Time, Place and Cause using Conjunctions, Adverbs and Prepositions, will help to reinforce their learning and address this 5th place common mistake.

Coming in 4th place is from the reading test: namely not using the text to answer questions. In the SATs reading papers many questions include some information which the students have to read and use to answer the question.

In third place from the maths paper, we regularly see confusion with carried digits. Rather than a simple and avoidable mistake this is generally because of a lack of understanding of place value.

We often see children reversing or not adding carried digits, so if the ones column totals 41 they carry the one instead of the four, not recognising the 4 as having a value of 40. Here are a few questions that will help to teach them this concept and consolidate their understanding: Add Numbers up to 3 Digits using the Column Method.

Coming in a very close second, we have forgetting capital letters and not forming them correctly. If you had a pound for every time you’d reminded your class about capital letters you probably wouldn’t still be teaching! However, sadly, it’s a very common cause of lost marks. While news earlier this year suggested that markers will be more lenient with punctuation in 2019, it is worth getting your students to carry out some additional questions to refine their skills. Letting your students run through a few of our practice SATs Question Sets will hopefully help to avoid these lost marks.

And in first place… we have ‘not reading the question properly’. Nerves, worry about running out of time, whatever the reason, this is one of the main causes of lost marks and more importantly, unnecessarily lost marks!

When children skim read questions, they can easily miss key instructional words such as ‘not’. For example, answering ‘Which sentence is punctuated correctly’? rather than “Which is ‘not’…” Our Question Sets provide many of these types of questions, to teach children the importance of spending time reading the question carefully: Is There Life on Other Planets? Another example is with questions that ask for multiple answers. We regularly saw papers where the question has asked for ‘two examples’ or to tick all that applied, and only one was given. Try creating your own ‘reading papers’ on any specific topic by using Learning by Questions’ question collection feature. Simply select the relevant topic area and the Question Sets you want to take from and add questions from the list provided. Questions from our GPS Question Sets are correctly scaffolded to help them to develop the necessary experience.

I hope these examples are useful and that having the extra questions to practice on will give your students more confidence as they go into their SATs papers. Good luck! If you would like access to all the Question Sets mentioned in this article, and over 1,000 other Question Sets covering curriculum aligned topics in maths, science and English, register for a free account today.

Former British Prime Minister and now chair of the global Education Commission, Gordon Brown, has called the learning crisis the ‘civil rights struggle of our time’. World leaders are rightly calling on every sector to join the fight — to use all the tools and resources at our disposal to tackle this effectively. To win this struggle would prevent another generation from being deprived of basic abilities and reduce many drivers of instability and conflict.

Globally there is a shortage of about 69 million teachers and the teachers who are working in low or middle income countries are frequently under supported. Often they teach in rural, remote areas; many of the classrooms have poor learning materials and many teachers feel abandoned and can struggle to understand for themselves the content that they are teaching.

These are all very significant challenges, but not insurmountable. There is a global effort underway to tackle this, centred around UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 for 2030. On current trajectories the SDG4 target will be missed, but progress will be made towards it.

A social enterprise called Bridge International Academies, or Bridge, is focused on helping to achieve this UN goal of quality education for all in Africa and Asia. We serve communities living in extreme poverty and have helped to educate three quarters of a million children over the last ten years at nursery and primary level. Bridge is significantly improving learning outcomes by putting teaching best practice straight into the hands of local teachers around the world, using technology and in-person teacher training and coaching. The vast majority of the work Bridge does is with government teachers in government schools, and some of the work is in our own community schools and nurseries.

A Bridge teacher in class at Bridge International Academies.

After government teachers have been through an intensive up-skilling and training scheme, they are ready to use hand-held tablets that give them access to very high quality lesson guides based on their local curriculum. They are trained to use best practice teaching techniques. In addition, we support them with regular in-person coaching inside the classroom every one or two weeks. In this way, both technology and continuous professional development help these teachers to deliver more child-centred lessons that result in higher learning outcomes for children.

Our approach is to treat learning as a science as we implement best practice across all the schools we run or support. We are focused on how children learn, tweaking, adapting and iterating lessons and teacher training in the light of data and evidence, to make sure children learn as much as possible.

A government school classroom in Nigeria supported by Bridge training and technology.

By collecting information at scale on what lessons work best, and how children learn, local academics in-country work to improve lessons for all children. The approach means that not only can a few schools be served in a few areas but that tens of thousands of schools and millions of children can benefit anywhere in the world.

The use of technology to deliver quality education is bearing fruit in children’s lives. The results have been very encouraging. Kenyan pupils who sat their primary school leavers’ exam have surpassed their peers in other schools for the four consecutive years. In Uganda children have outperformed the national average in the two consecutive years they have sat the national exam. Children’s learning gains in Liberia, where we support government schools, showed pupils learning at twice the speed of their immediate peers. In Nigeria, a DFID report showed equity of high attainment at Bridge schools for children from all types of socio-economic backgrounds. Children in Bridge supported government schools are learning far more than previously. In India we are running community schools in the southeast region in partnership with the local government.

Social enterprises doing this sort of work is an idea supported by the majority of the UK public, and it’s also now part of the official UK Aid strategy for education. From the poorest regions of India to the low-income communities of Nairobi and even areas affected by the terrorist group al-Shabaab, well-supported teachers are thriving and making an impact.

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