The conference is over, but it would be such a pity not to capture all the thinking that went into this event and produce a more permanent document. Too often reports are written by a small group and, although this makes the task easier, it would not represent the broad spectrum of expert opinion that was represented by our participants. We enjoyed input from researchers, teacher educators, advisers , school leaders, teachers and edtech industry representatives who brought a range of current challenges into focus which delegates often shared although they came from different professional backgrounds. In other cases participants were altered to points of view that they had not considered before.
The aim is to produce a short pithy document, quick to read and full of punch. We plan to advise on agreements and differences of opinion. We have several audiences in mind including the DFE, Damian Hinds and the press including the TES that has 1,000,00 readers. At the moment the press are aware that there are major challenges in the area of computing so we can count on an interested ear.
On these pages you will be able to see the captured records of all the presentations, the subsequent discussions and the Twitter feeds that can be downloaded. Still to come is the input from the flip charts and post-its. The report for each session will be led by the chair and volunteers who will download all the content aiming to make collaborative sense of what has been said.
Raising Digital Aspirations
Expert contributions to the debate
We now have all the data together from the conference.
The themes we have identified are:
- Ways in which edtech can assist in teacher recruitment and retention
- Making research findings more accessible to practitioners
- The value to teaching and learning of key edtech services and products
- Effective models of edtech Professional Development including online learning and e-mentoring
- What should schools teach about Digital Literacy?
- New thinking on critical Media Literacy including advice on combatting ‘fake news’
- Insights from international edtech experts
- Advice on working in partnership with the edtech industry
Let us know if you have other suggestions for themes. In particular politicians are now worried about digital literacy, hence their commission on fake news. Please look out for any material relevant to that. In addition, the DfE asked us to advise on how edtech can help with recruitment and retention. You will see that is a mirandalink/itte online debate about that topic that has yielded some vibrant material.
Please email Christina Preston if you would like to be involved in the writing subgroups over the summer holiday. We are also very keen to publish any related resources, publications and relevant websites. Please send these in too. All contributors will be cited as co-researchers. christina@mirandanet.ac.uk
To see conference reports click here or on the session links below.To see the PowerPoints on the ITTE site click here.
The conference sessions
Aspiring authors – Publishing for early career researchers
How the edtech industry can work effectively with educators bridging the gap between the ‘Ed’ and the ‘Tech’
Opening debate – Enhancing learning and teaching with technology: Which innovations appear to work?
Raising aspirations in digital education 1
Keynote presentation – What does our research tell us about the curriculum in schools? (Ofsted)
Raising aspirations in digital education 2
What makes effective online learning for teachers?
Closing remarks – Raising aspirations in digital education: What do we know now?
Follow the Twitter feed by clicking on this image.
Responses to presentations from the Winchester Forum participants
These are the contributions on flip charts and post-its from the conference participants.
All the report authors are advised to check these from the point of view of thematic analysis.
Some valuable observations have been made extempore.
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