The home of PedTech
You have come here because you have an interest in EdTech.
You are curious about the title - PedTech.
You might be wondering why PedTech is any different to EdTech, or why any kind of change in thinking is necessary. Or, you might already be familiar with this conversation, and keen to hear more about what is being said.
Whatever your background and whatever your perspective, we welcome you. Importantly, we also want to thank you for being part of what is now a global conversation involving practitioners, researchers, and policy makers. (#PedTech)
What is PedTech?
PedTech is a mindset, and all about putting pedagogical intentions at the heart and start of any thinking, discussion or action about the way that digital technology is used within education.
The old fashioned way of thinking about technology in education was to think about digital technology being ‘implemented’ - with the value and attention pivoting around the technology itself.
Over time, forward thinking educators moved on from that mindset and began to take more of a lead - asking ‘how' the technology could support teaching and learning. But, whilst conversation then incorporated ideas about pedagogy, the attention still pivoted around the technology itself. We’d just moved from ‘What’ technology was being implemented, to ‘How’ it was being used.
PedTech is a natural evolution on from this - reflecting research and reality - where we start with a very basic question - "What are we trying to achieve through Schooling/Education and Why?"
But the 'why' must focus on our organisational educational vision and purpose and how that is brought to life (our pedagogy), not 'why' we want to use technology (our tools).
Consider this - What is it that we are actually trying to achieve by existing as a school? Why is that important in today's contemporary landscape? What role do we want to play in the lives of our children & young people, and what role do our school workforce and community have in bringing that vision to life?
These are not quick questions, but they might be the most important influences if we are leading a classroom or a school.
What do you, we, *really* believe? (which may or may not align with what is happening in our school/s today).
The great thing is that once those ‘pedagogical intentions’ are clear, the use of digital technology becomes just one of the many tools that we can draw upon to help us achieve those intentions, and to bring that vision to life. Moreover, the right tools can be chosen with confidence, and used with purpose and precision.
That, is where the impact happens.
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If you're interested in exploring this further, try:
Chapter 4 in our book 'What are my pedagogical beliefs?'
and
Chapter 7 in our book - which provides personas (descriptions) of 4 different pedagogical beliefs lived out through classroom practice - see which one sounds like the vision you would like to see.
Aubrey-Smith, F., & Twining, P., (2024) From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the way we think about digital technology. Routledge: London.
Available as paperback or Kindle now
