Using technology in education

Guidance and support for education providers who want to increase their use of EdTech.

Before increasing your use of technology, there are a number of things you need to consider.

Strategy

Department for Education (DfE) has published a strategy to help education providers make the most of the opportunities presented by technology.

• Realising the potential of technology in education
  • 3 April 2019
  • Policy paper

Things to think about

There are a range of benefits to using technology. This could include:

• learning gains
• workload reduction

The guidance below includes things you should think about when implementing or changing your use of technology.

• Choosing the right broadband for your school
  • 3 April 2019
  • Guidance
• Assessing your school ICT infrastructure
  • 3 April 2019
  • Guidance
• Moving your school to the cloud
  • 3 April 2019
  • Guidance

Security and privacy

You should think about how implementing or changing your use of technology might change your data management responsibilities.

To support the guidance below, the National Cyber Security Centre has further information on:

• implementing cloud security principles
• Cloud software services and the data protection act
• cyber security

DfE has published guidance and tools to help you keep people and data safe.

• Data protection: toolkit for schools
  • 14 September 2018
  • Guidance
• Keeping children safe in education
  • 1 September 2020
  • Statutory guidance
• Protection of children’s biometric information in schools
  • 22 March 2018
  • Guidance

Buying ICT hardware and services

Advice on specific buying processes and finding quality-checked suppliers for your school is available below.

Read the buying for schools manual for advice on how to plan and buy the things your school regularly needs.

• Find a DfE-approved framework for your school
  • 1 July 2019
  • Guidance
• Leasing and subscription services for school equipment
  • 20 January 2017
  • Guidance

Research

Covers use of technology in educational settings.

• Assistive technology (AT) stakeholder reports
  • 24 November 2020
  • Research and analysis

Published 3 April 2019
Last updated 24 November 2020 + show all updates

1. 24 November 2020

   Added a research section with link to assistive technology stakeholder reports.

2. 3 April 2019

   First published.

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