File:DigitalLearning UK.pdf

Summary

This chapter reviews the current state of digital K-12 in the United Kingdom with emphasis on England. It gives evidence to substantiate the UK's high ranking in digital maturity studies and analyses. The chapter begins by summarising England's K-12 system and the factors of the National Curriculum and National Exams which produce a uniform system despite the wide variety in size, purpose, organisation and funding of schools. It describes the digital policy interventions, funding schemes, large-scale projects and influential reports in the period 2010-23, demonstrating that decisions taken more than ten years ago have continuing effects today, and that the pandemic rapidly accelerated existing trends rather than setting a brand new direction. A broad view is taken of infrastructure covering technology, leadership, budgets, course design/delivery, ensuring student success, staff development, quality/inspection, and analytics. It provides data, with key examples, supporting the main trends analysed - bandwidth, school networks, software, end-user devices, and content. It covers topics often omitted in such reports, such as private schools, homeschooling, virtual schools, open content, online national examinations and the overlap of K-12 with the post-secondary sector. It reviews key issues: structural disorganisation leading to fragmented procurement of a plethora of systems, the multi-dimensional isolation of K-12 including the disconnect between school and post-secondary digital approaches and systems, lack of clarity on the role of parents, the rigidity of the school day/week/year limiting the scope for blended digital learning, and the promise but problems of advanced technologies.

Licensing

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