 Technology in education serves two primary functions: one, as a tool to support teaching and learning, and two, as a means of driving efficiency.
Members of our Education Group provide ICT products and services to schools, colleges, universities, national bodies, local authorities, and independent bodies in the UK.
Through our programme we provide information on the UK's education ICT market to members and offer regular opportunities for the education community to engage with experts from the supplier base.
In 2012, we are also focusing our work around a 'Connected Skills' campaign composed of the following three elements.
1. Making the education market more supplier-friendly
2. Promoting the evidence of technology in driving outcomes in education
3. Championing the value of STEM skills, computer science and digital literacy
- 19/09/2012 - Public Sector | Education Group meeting - JISC
Thought leadership
 'Driving a step change in productivity and efficiency in the UK education system' (PDF 4.38MB) is the first in a series of three thought leadership papers that our Education Group is producing. Published on 14 April 2010, it sets out a vision for how the UK can take advantage of the investments that have been made over the last decade in education through greater productivity and efficiency, with the end goal of improving learning.
Changing the nature of the learning environment in the UK to develop learners' skills across their lifetimes, and improving social inclusion / building better communities are the themes of the next two papers that the group is producing.
Technology is transforming the education sector by:
- broadening access to learning
- providing safe and personalised learning environments
- engaging learners, parents and teachers in new ways
- generating substantial savings that can be reinvested in education and learning
- improving children’s services by enabling a more joined-up approach
- providing children and adults with the skills necessary for the global knowledge economy
 Chair
Richard Hadfield Hadfield Consultants
Richard has worked in the technology industry for the last 18 years with a diverse set of sectors including Internet Service Providers, IT companies (such as Cisco) and latterly with the public sector. His work with the public sector has mainly focused upon the Education & Skills sector where he has played a important role in enabling the Every Child Matters and Home Access initiatives as well as the 'skills' agenda. He was, until recently, the Director of Education & Skills (and a member of the Public Sector Leadership Team) at Logica Plc where he was responsible for programmes helping to deliver services to over 10 million people from across England and Wales. Richard now runs his own consulting and advisory business. Richard lives in Oxford with his wife and two daughters and enjoys playing/watching music and various sports.
Education case studies
Case studies highlighting how ICT is driving up standards and efficiency across the education sector. To submit your case study, please email
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Collaborative planning solution reduces business process times - Advanced Business Solutions
Edge Hill University is using Advanced Business Solutions' Collaborative Planning solution to more effectively manage and provide greater visibility into the University's budget across numerous departments. Among other benefits the system has dramatically reduced information collation from two weeks down to only a couple of days. Uploading budgetary information into the general ledger now only takes 10 minutes instead of two weeks. The University has also adopted Advanced Business Solutions' Document Imaging and Archiving solution to dramatically reduce the time and space given to manual archiving.
Training for paramedics at St George's, University of London – Daden
Virtual world specialist Daden Limited has worked with St George's, University of London to develop a learning system for training and assessing paramedics, called PIVOTE. Since St George's was already using an international standard for web-based exercises called Medbiquitous Virtual Patient (MVP), Daden were able to develop a simulation tool to enable MVP exercises to be played within 3D scenarios on the Second Life platform.
With PIVOTE, tutors can create and maintain exercises and have reported that students have used the tool to discuss ways to assess patients and that making decisions has helped learning. Students can access exercises from their web browser, virtual world browser or even mobile phone, and institutions can also easily share exercises and achieve savings by moving between virtual worlds without having to rebuild whole exercises. PIVOTE is now being used by learning and training organisations in a variety of disciplines and across several countries in Europe and in North and South America, and is being translated into Spanish, Italian and German. In October 2009 the project won the outstanding ICT initiative award at the Times Higher Education Awards, owing to its potential implications for other educational institutions.
School Managed Services - Dell
Dell delivers a managed service to six schools in Derbyshire. The project delivers predictability for quality of ICT resources and financial planning. The schools have access to a data centre, mix of ICT resources including telephony and data management. Importantly, the schools have access to support services both on and off-site with a range of specialists to support ICT delivery in the school. Pupils have the ability to work within the classroom or in breakout spaces to encourage whole class, small group or autonomous learning.
The schools that have implemented the solution to date have seen an increase in student participation, teacher confidence and rising academic standards, which are expected to grow further as the future full academic years are completed.
OpenAthens at Bath Spa University – Eduserv
When Bath Spa University was looking for a solution to its single sign-on needs that wouldn't increase the cost and burden on its IT staff, it became early adopters of a new software and service from Eduserv. OpenAthens LA 2.0 is an 'out-of-the-box' solution that universities and colleges can use to take advantage of a range of access and identity protocols such as Athens, SAML and Shibboleth.
According to Matt Durant (the university's Information Manager for Digital Resources), Eduserv's solution "offered statistics that would help librarians calculate the value each resource delivered... It has really created a cultural change within the university. Staff find it [easy] to use and recommend a lot more resources to students as they know they will be able to access them easily... The training and support we received meant library staff could easily manage the system and provide a better service for end users." As OpenAthens LA 2.0 was available to Bath Spa University under its existing OpenAthens subscription, this upgrade demonstrates how institutions can migrate from a managed directory service to local authentication quickly with minimal impact on IT resources and budgets. eLearning in Portugal – Intel
In Portugal, one of the world's most comprehensive educational technology programmes provides an example of how technology can be used to transform education and drive the economy.
To ensure that technology is adopted and integrated into the home and classroom, Portugal's government developed Plano Tecnológico, in cooperation with Intel and other public and private partners. Begun in 2007, the programme's goal is to equip 850,000 students and teachers with notebook PCs and broadband by 2010. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, Portugal is offering students customised, age-specific PCs. Students can access interactive educational resources through skoool.pt – a Portuguese-language site created as part of Intel® skoool™. In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Intel has also trained 850 elementary school teachers to be Master Trainers of computer and software skills to their fellow teachers.
The software applications, peripheral equipment and educational content that support these educational programmes are all locally produced. So, within just a few years Portugal has developed a highly marketable, locally developed 'product' that can now be exported. Already, Venezuela has ordered 1 million customised Intel classmate Magellan PCs and Libya has agreed to purchase 500,000 PCs.
eLearning in Liverpool – Intel and SMART Technologies
Broadgreen County Primary in Liverpool recently introduced a 1:1 eLearning model based on Intel-powered classmate PCs and SMART Technologies' classroom solutions. This new learning environment closely supports the school's current transformation from a knowledge-based to an enquiry-based curriculum. Students are able to work at their own pace and in their own way. They are more engaged and more responsible in their learning, and as a result are achieving higher scores. Teachers are also benefitting from the solution since lesson planning is easier, while lessons can be made more fun and more creative.
eLearning provides each teacher and student with a dedicated laptop for use at school and, in many cases, home. Laptops serve as personal teaching and learning tools that are used throughout the day for many educational tasks and subjects. With 1:1 eLearning, technology is deeply integrated into the classroom experience, rather than confined to a PC lab.
A data shared service across the UK education sector – Logica
Managing Information Across Partners (MIAP) is a national programme that will streamline the collection, handling and sharing of information on learning and achievement in the UK. At the heart of the programme is a Unique Learner Number (ULN) for everyone over the age of 14 and in education. Any qualifications awarded by over 20,000 recognised bodies are automatically added to the ULN, making it a secure, online CV. More than eight million learners have registered so far.
Through MIAP, learners will be able to track their own progress and make better decisions about their education/training due to improved information on providers and the services they offer. Providers will be able to give better guidance and support because they will know more about what learners have already achieved. Employers will be able to access an applicant’s achievement and training record (as long as consent is provided) to verify their achievements and assess their suitability for a role. Public sector organisations will be able to make improved funding and planning decisions because they understand better how their policies are impacting learners. Furthermore, MIAP will realise efficiency gains worth an estimated £45 million in its first two years of full operation. Server virtualisation and cost savings in the UK – Microsoft
Every secondary school has now got a server room; some are converted broom cupboards, while others are purpose-built, purpose-cooled spaces. Steve Gillott at Wootton Basset School had 13 physical servers, with 13 support contracts, and 13 lots of electricity and cooling usage. By running virtual servers instead and turning 13 physical servers into 3, he has made the following savings: 10 support contracts = Save £5,600 this yearNot replacing 10 servers = Save £24,000 this yearElectricity on 10 servers = Save £18,144 this year
In total, this saves £47,744 this year and £23,744 every year after. Server virtualisation and other cost-saving initiatives are becoming standard practice for the private sector. By combining a number of initiatives that have already been implemented separately in various UK schools, Microsoft estimates that a large secondary school could save around £400k and a large primary school around £100k.
Cloud Enabled College Technology Partnership - Northgate Managed Services
Hugh Christie Technology College, based in Tonbridge, Kent is a mixed ability school which educates 1,200 students between the ages of 11 and 19. To address the constantly changing teaching and learning needs of staff and students the school partnered with ICT education specialist Northgate Managed Services (Northgate) in 2008.
The ICT service provided by Northgate helps to improve the efficiency of school management systems and the delivery of innovative and creative lessons through effective ICT. Hugh Christie have implemented MY-SCHOOL, Northgate's cloud based on-line learning environment, which has allowed them to move away from locally stored device dependent software and driven ICT to open access online.
Executive Principal at the college, Jon Barker has reported the following benefits:
• 10% saved in the first full financial year of operation on the costs of the previous 'in-house' model.
• 20% saved in the financial year 2010-2011 due to significant reductions in capital replenishment due to Cloud technology.
• 99.5% availability in academic year 2010-2011.
• Improved access to key applications removing the need to buy office licences.
• All students regardless of background and financial circumstances can have access to same levels of technology at home.
• Enhanced communication.
System-wide eLearning across Western Australia – Oracle
The Western Australia Department of Education and Training administers education to 800 schools across 2.5 million kilometres, a region roughly one-third of the Australian land mass. This vast geography presents a range of challenges – for example, it is difficult to get science and technology teachers to work in remote areas when demand is also high in large cities. However, thanks to a system-wide eLearning project delivered by Oracle, teachers in public schools are now able to: access teaching resources and collaborate with teachers, parents and curriculum expertsassign learning activities to groups of students and monitor their performanceundertake further professional development onlineoffer more personalised learning and help students connect with other students across long distances – eg if two students in a remote school want to learn Mandarin, it is difficult to justify the resources, but a virtual class across several schools is a more viable proposition
The project has also reduced incorrect payments to A$50,000 across an organisation with an annual budget of A$3.5 billion, and by linking a workforce of 55,000 through a centralised HR function has achieved cost savings and a higher quality of HR service.
Lighting up learning in Scotland – RM
Glow is Scotland’s learning platform – effectively a national schools intranet that provides online communications, collaboration and curriculum delivery for 800,000 learners and teachers across the country. Developed by RM, it is a pioneering development and is one of the largest learning platform implementations anywhere in the world, providing:
- access to a wide range of online teaching and learning resources, including video clips, educational software, high quality graphics and lesson plans
- a secure network giving young people in Scotland instant, anytime, anywhere access to personalised educational opportunities
- a communications environment enabling every learner and teacher to collaborate and share ideas, even across geographical boundaries
The technology is delivered as a fully-hosted managed service, built from a range of best-of-breed products from leading global technology providers. RM was initially responsible for architectural design and system implementation, and is now engaged in day-to-day management and delivery. Glow is supported by an extensive change management and customer engagement programme, jointly delivered by RM and Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). Glow received a Platinum award in the 2009 IMS Global Learning Impact Awards.
The National Centre for Excellence in Teaching of Mathematics - Tribal
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics was created in 2006, following the highly regarded Smith report to improve mathematics teaching in England. The contract, managed by Tribal Education Ltd, focused on promoting high quality professional development for all teachers of mathematics, and consisted of substantial and in some cases unique, online tools supported by a regional programme of professional development. The NCETM now has seen over 70,000 users register for its services, and caters for every phase of education, from the early years to A level and other post 16 provision. Whilst not the only initiative create during this time, the NCETM has seen entries for A level mathematics rise from approximately 58,000 in 2005, to over 95,000 in 2011. As a proportion of the A level cohort, this has risen from what had been a steady 7.5% to almost 11% of those taking A levels. The success of the NCETM has continued past its original contract end, as it supports teachers, schools, teaching schools and HEIs across the country with professional development in mathematics teaching.
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