Author : Henry Platten, founder eCadets and GoBubble.
It’s always so inspiring working with teachers and children, as together ideas spark and aren’t restricted by today’s technology – they’re always looking to a better tomorrow.
With EdTech innovators, there is a strong duty when developing the solutions to match. I believe there are two guiding principles when developing tech for schools :
1. Can this help teachers to deliver an impact on teaching and learning?
2. Will this keep children safer?
It’s not an either or. Both parts have to exist within a solution for it to be the very best for children and schools. It’s a formula which is my innovation compass.
Two principles of EdTech innovation:
> Can this improve teaching and learning?
> Will this keep children safer?
That’s why solutions in EdTech need to have a higher standard of MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This why I’m such a massive fan of ReallySchool and NetSupport’s exciting new developments with its safeguarding cornerstone, DNA.
It’s also why when building our own safe under 13s social media to connect the World’s classrooms it has taken us more than 3 years. Learning and safety had to be the core strands of our solution’s ethos.
Increasingly there is a need for products and solutions to be benchmarked against safety. You can rely at times on the PEGI ratings for apps, however, for Trustees there is also an opportunity for you to act as a critical friend when reviewing if a new solution is adding value to keeping children safer.
Key questions to consider:
- Do they clearly display a privacy statement?
- If it is being used outside of school does it differentiate its privacy statement for external use?
- Does it share your school data with third parties? Does it comply with GDPR?
- Check the About Us section. What are the backgrounds of the people behind the solution?
- Has it been tested within your family of schools?