Wellbeing in schools has always been important, but since March last year, it has moved much higher up the priority radar. The disruption caused by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns has directly impacted wellbeing in schools and we’ve seen a greater shift towards the importance of mental as well as physical health.
Promethean’s sixth State of Technology in Education Report, which asked educators from across the country to share their experiences and comment on their schools’ priorities, showed that ‘social and emotional learning’ (SEL) is currently a higher priority than ‘attainment’ and was given the top spot by 44% of educators. Surprisingly, only 2% believe they will be able to invest in wellbeing, however, for 2022/23.
Passionate about reimagining and reinventing educational technology, Promethean offers a range of engaging edtech solutions for schools that are designed to motivate and inspire.
How edtech can help teachers
Edtech can support teachers with key challenges and pressures they face on a day-to-day basis, including assessment, marking and the capacity to meet different students’ needs. Teachers’ time is precious and it’s something they rarely have enough of. The pandemic has stretched teachers, tested their confidence and increased levels of anxiety and stress. Edtech has helped teachers to navigate home learning during the lockdowns.
Promethean’s ActivPanel Elements Series is a user-friendly interactive flat panel display that places all of the most commonly used digital tools right at teachers’ fingertips. Multi-device mirroring lets teachers move freely and teach from anywhere in the classroom, increasing student collaboration and participation as students can communicate and work together from a distance. Interactive lesson delivery software, ActivInspire, is supplied as standard with the ActivPanel and provides a vast suite of tools to create and deliver collaborative lessons and increase student engagement. Using ActivInspire, teachers are also able to import existing resources, such as PowerPoint slides and PDFs, to enhance content and save time.
To ensure schools are getting the most out of edtech, it’s crucial to provide appropriate training to put minds at rest and ensure the solution being used is fully optimised. Promethean’s new State of Technology in Education Report showed that teachers believe they are not receiving adequate training and support they need to utilise edtech effectively with 55% saying classroom tech training is lacking and 9% claiming that they have received no training at all. To help address the shortage of edtech training and make development opportunities more accessible to teachers throughout the UK and Ireland, Promethean created the online CPD platform, Learn Promethean, which provides free and easily accessible training. The platform provides a wide range of opportunities for developing edtech skills with over 20 online courses, more than 200 training videos, and over 130 articles and resources. All training options are tiered in varying degrees of ability and take a range of times to complete, so educators can select the training best suited to their learning objectives and availability. If edtech can save teachers precious time, this can ultimately help to improve their wellbeing.
How edtech can support students
Students need consistency, structure and meaningful interactions from their learning environment. When appropriate technology is used it has the potential to stimulate and inspire students. It can also be adapted to different learning needs and styles. Edtech can support more seamless communication, offer quicker feedback and encourage more engagement between students and between students and teachers. Using tools such as polls and quizzes for assessment can increase interactivity and enhance energy in the classroom.
The Promethean ActivPanel encourages collaboration that supports wellbeing in class and can help reduce any feelings of separation or isolation among students. As teachers can interact and work with students at a distance, screen-sharing encourages engagement and drives lesson collaboration even if the students aren’t in the classroom. Preloaded on the ActivPanel, the Screen Share App can be used in class or to connect students learning at home. Sharing and celebrating individuals’ work in a whole class environment can help to elevate self-esteem. Students also have the opportunity to receive constructive and positive feedback from their peers.
Innovation is the way forward…
Great edtech should help teachers and students make the most out of every moment in the classroom, whether the ‘classroom’ is in school or at home. As we head into the winter months and a period of uncertainty, both teachers and students can feel more at ease knowing an infrastructure is in place that will ensure their learning continues in all eventualities. EdTech can enable schools to pre-empt challenges and situations where more flexibility is needed.
Technology is an inevitable part of children’s futures and by embracing its full potential we may also help to safeguard the future of wellbeing in schools.
To learn more about the trends identified in the Promethean State of Technology in Education UKI Report 2021/2022, please visit stateofed.tech.