The Growing Importance of Edtech

With the sudden shift to at-home learning during the pandemic, technology and digital tools have become essential to students’ ongoing development, connecting teachers with their pupils, pupils with each other, and to resources and learning materials. Educators across the globe are under immense pressure to quickly pivot the way they teach, as they transition to online learning models. Not only do they need the right devices, they need expert guidance on all aspects of the move to digital learning – from IT consultancy, to digital learning courses, and more. While blended learning has been a topic of discussion for some time, the role technology plays in education has never been more pertinent than it is today. Education technology has moved from being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’. In fact, global Edtech investment is set to grow by 15% this year.

Why the UK for Edtech?

The UK is a global leader in education technology. The UK is the largest Edtech market in Europe and the fourth biggest globally. Over half of the European Edtech Top 20 list are from the UK, and Britain has more than 1,000 Edtech companies covering the full educational landscape, with expertise in infrastructure, connectivity, hardware, software and content. Moreover, the UK provides access to world-leading university innovation hubs, an entrepreneurial eco-system and a range of state-of-the-art products and services, many of which were adopted to solve recent restrictions caused by Covid-19. London’s Edtech ecosystem alone is the largest in Europe with an estimated value of $3.4bn.

With a culture of innovation and wide array of competitive Edtech companies, the UK Edtech sector is well placed to help international organisations achieve better educational outcomes. Great teachers have the power to make a positive difference to a young person’s life by guiding and inspiring them through education. UK Edtech providers recognise that teachers need support in order to do the best job. They are developing tools to reduce administrative tasks, freeing up precious time to spend on the individual development needs of each child.

UK Edtech Companies are Partnering with the Gulf

Texthelp

Edtech company Texthelp, based in Northern Ireland, has created an award-winning range of innovative software solutions that help educators and students improve literacy, maths and assessment. In use by over 30 million users, their products range from ‘Read&Write’, which supports literacy, ‘EquatIO’, making maths digital and ‘WriQ’, which delivers automated marking and writing metrics. Texthelp was a winner of the DfE/Nesta EdTech Innovation fund and was part of an EdTech trade mission to the UAE organised by the DIT Education team. As a result, Texthelp has partnered with many international schools, private schools and Universities in the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the GEMS group of schools and Zayed University in the UAE.

HME

Based in the heart of the UK, HME-Tech is a market leader in quality design technology and science equipment in schools in the UK and throughout the Middle East. Over many years, the company has developed a global reputation for commitment and dedication, supporting future generations by ensuring design thinking remains a key part of education. HME began as and remains a specialist producer of hot metal equipment from where the name HME was derived. However, more recently, HME has developed its equipment portfolio to meet the demanding needs of advancing technology. In addition to supplying laser cutters, 3D printers and CNC machines, the company also designs and installs innovative S.T.E.A.M. labs, including aviation simulators and “Maker Space” labs that use artificial intelligence and robotics to bring to life the subject matter. HME has completed several projects in renowned schools across the UAE and Gulf region. Every lab is specifically designed to meet the exacting and bespoke requirements for each educational establishment and HME provides a ‘one-stop’ comprehensive service from design concept, supply, to installation, including commissioning and training. Its products are built to a high quality, safe and suitable for educational purposes, fully complying with current British Safety Regulations.

Firefly

Firefly creates technology for parent engagement and learning continuity. With Firefly, schools can manage all aspects of school life, helping to reduce teacher workload, streamline administrative tasks and give parents a richer understanding of their child's learning and experience of school. Available via browser and apps, Firefly’s Parent Portal and LMS solutions offer a fully integrated platform bringing together the whole school community. Partnering with over 600 schools, Firefly is used by more than 1 million students, teachers and parents in 40 countries, including 70% of the UK’s top performing schools, and in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Firefly was founded in 2005 by two GCSE students, Joe Mathewson and Simon Hay, who developed the first version of the platform to help their teachers and fellow students access school information online.

Mangahigh

Mangahigh offers curriculum-aligned, game-based learning for maths. A large number of schools across the GCC use MangaHigh, including several schools in Oman and Qatar. Mangahigh is one of the most engaging learning platforms for maths, helping students of all abilities to learn more effectively using an active game-based pedagogical approach. Built by a team of education experts, Mangahigh supports teachers in providing a unique learning experience for each student through a curriculum-aligned teaching platform that is powered by AI. Mangahigh uses adaptive content, purpose-built games and real-time feedback to engage, motivate and positively influence students of all abilities towards learning maths.

Wizenoze

Wizenoze finds the best educational information on the internet that matches any curriculum. The company is currently active in the Middle East and has clients and partnerships in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Wizenoze is a vast, easily searchable digital library curated to be expansive, diverse, reliable, and safe. Their products are designed to let students find information on the internet that matches their curriculum and ability, to support self-learning and, proven to increase learning outcomes. The products can be easily integrated into schools’ learning platforms to hugely increase the learning experience. Wizenoze’s latest product is Wizeup. Wizeup gives students access to a collection of millions of educational resources, each matched to their curriculum and reading level with digital resources per subject and topic. Students can quickly access the relevant top five results for any lesson, handpicked and approved by teachers. The product is a highly visual and engaging learning experience proven to improve learning outcomes even further.

Role Models

Role Models is a great example of a UK company successfully adapting to digital delivery during the pandemic. Role Models focuses on life skills that promote social & emotional wellbeing and dynamic thinking, helping young people to thrive in life; both at home and their future workplace. Traditionally delivered face to face, due to the pandemic, the company now provides online courses and sessions that develop young peoples’ skills in leadership, confidence, resilience, creative problem solving, collaboration and growth mindset. They work with families, schools and corporates to ensure each young person is able to be the best version of themselves through delivering a range of courses for 5-15 year old children. In Kuwait, Role Models has worked with a leading telecom provider to deliver a pilot programme for its staff, providing online courses for 80 children whose parents work at the company in Kuwait. Although not a typical ed-tech company, the firm has done well to tailor their offering to a digital platform.

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