On 12th June 2020 McKinsey published a new article on the ever-present subject of the impact on learning of educational technology. Based on the PISA data report, published every 3 years, the OECD tests globally 15-year-olds on maths, reading, and science, going “beyond the numbers” by asking students, principals, teachers, parents about attitudes, behaviours, and…
The Times reported at the end of last week on the UK Government´s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and it came in for particular attack for how schools have been mismanaged. There has been a lack of decision-making as to how to try and address the issues or a plan as to how to move…
When a parent buys a digital device for a child there are two thoughts that probably go through their mind: this will be a great learning tool, but also how am I going to be able to protect my child and help them see the good, but not the bad and the ugly side of…
A recent Bett (the global education shows) article, while admitting that education was probably overdue a makeover, suggested that possibly now was a good time to adopt a new ‘hybrid’ model of education. This would integrate various modes of learning, which could be a “blend between in-school teaching and online learning” in unprecedented ways. Whatever…
The Guardian newspaper recently published an article which highlights the fact that everyone, like it or not, is having to use technology, and in a way forcing a level of digital literacy that perhaps would not have been attained either so fast nor so profoundly had it not been for COVID-19. One of the positive…
A recent Harvard Business Review article Keep Your People Learning When You Go Virtual highlighted an inescapable fact “the COVID-19 pandemic is bound to leave behind lasting changes…Learning will be the foundation of our survival… learning online is a lot more complicated than setting up a Zoom account and continuing business as usual”. If as…
Microsoft have just published their own report on some of the learnings from the massive remote education experience. Their Teams application has been one of the major beneficiaries of this enforced remote schooling with some 150 million students, and teachers using Microsoft Education products. The conclusions bear out previous posts, in that 61% of the…
A recent McKinsey article outlined the challenges associated with remote learning. These are multiple and each country and their respective Education Ministries are dealing with these differently. The bottom-line is that “Even in times of crisis, education matters. Delivering quality instruction is clearly a challenge in current circumstances; the magnitude of the challenge, however, varies…
An article last week in The Wall Street Journal reviews how successful, or not, the challenge of remote learning was (in the US). The results, in the most advanced nation, make for worrying reading, when the rest of the world is less well-equipped to respond to the challenges. “The problems began piling up almost immediately.…
The “new normal” of working from home brings with it old tricks by pupils in a different disruptive form. This way of working has been a big enough challenge for teachers as it is, let´s try and ensure if does not put any further stress on them and their ability to run an effective class.…