How to find the right educational technology for schools

Schools are under constant pressure to invest in tools that support a wide range of priorities, making the search for the right edtech for schools more complex than ever.

In education, everyone has their own goals. To decide which edtech to invest in, you need to look at the requirements of your whole school community—teachers, leaders, IT administrators, and students. When you combine these priorities, you can create an effective edtech roadmap that addresses everyone’s needs.

Collaborate with teachers to choose the right edtech for schools

Every school has tech advocates and tech critics. Some teachers will be more tech savvy than others, but that doesn’t mean their needs should be considered over those with a more traditional style of teaching. In fact, ensuring all faculty members are involved in the early stages of strategy setting will make them feel more included in the process, and more willing to share ideas and embrace new education technology.

Each department will have their own agenda in mind, so it’s important to address everyone’s goals at the planning stage. 

• What are school leaders’ primary and secondary goals for the academic year?
• What budget is currently allocated to classroom tech? Is there room for adjustment?
• What infrastructure would IT administrators like to see in school in the next five years? 
• How have network requirements changed over the last year? How do IT administrators expect them to change in the coming year?
• Have teachers’ classroom activities and preferences changed over the last year? 
• How could edtech in schools overcome teachers’ common frustrations and support their goals?

Once everyone has provided feedback, schedule a meeting to discuss high-level goals for each department and the school as a whole. When everyone feels like their individual voice has been heard, they’re more likely to collaborate and compromise as you assign actions. 

Consider student needs and edtech learning outcomes

Educational technology for schools can considerably enhance the learning environment for students, but it has to be used correctly to do so. Think about the different needs and outcomes that edtech for the K-12 classroom and beyond could address: 

• Could edtech be used differently to increase student engagement?
• Are students easily distracted in the classroom? Are they more distracted during some activities than others?
• How could edtech be used to support group work or mixed-ability students? 
• Do students struggle to keep up with the lesson plan? 
• Do students progress at unpredictable rates?
• How could edtech be used to enhance social-emotional learning in the classroom?

Assess your current edtech setup for gaps and opportunities

Like any other type of equipment, some edtech tools get used more often than others. Take a look at your current setup and think about how you could integrate new tech to make your classroom ecosystem more effective.

Interactive displays, also known as smart boards, are the core tool in the modern classroom. Many schools already have them in place, but may not be using them as effectively as they could. Interactive displays, such as the ActivPanel 10, can not only integrate with a wide range of apps and devices—but comes fully equipped with Promethean ActivSuite; an array of engagement apps that enrich student learning. Students have the ability to annotate over a lesson on the board, or can connect to the smart panel via screen share encouraging constructive feedback while supporting social-emotional learning.

Ready to build a strategy for improving educational technology in your school?

Finding the right balance of edtech and establishing a long-term technology roadmap can be daunting for school decision-makers. To find out how to get the right staff involved and which questions to ask to ensure your edtech roadmap addresses everyone’s needs effectively. 

Get in touch with one of our edtech experts who can walk you through the process.