But in 2020 all that changed

The covid-19 pandemic...

...created the largest disruption to education in modern history

As teachers scrambled to get their classes online...

...and parents developed a new-found respect for their kids' teachers

No that's not a “T”!

That's an “X”

No this is an “X”!

But out of the disruption has come a realisation...

...of technology's potential…

...to transform one of the most important sectors...

...for the future of the world

Summer camp has long been a tradition for American kids

Wholesome weeks away in nature...

...to focus on sports or science...

...or even space

This summer though...

...there's a new camp

The covid catch-up camp...

...for students like these

When the pandemic hit, their classes switched to online

...which wasn't easy

My pandemic school year was chaotic

I could just like kind of do whatever I wanted because, like...

...the teachers couldn't see me

So, like, I'll be eating in class, sometimes falling asleep

You know I have to share, like, the living room with my sister...

...and her class was extra loud

I did not like Zoom

Some schools in San Francisco were closed for in-person learning...

...for more than a year

And so the city decided to lay on extra summer classes...

...for all public-school children

Our children, particularly our very poor and low-income families...

...all had a very difficult time with distance learning...

...not because they didn't have the technology or the equipment...

...but because they didn't have the support to stay engaged in distance learning...

...nor the structure at home to provide that support for them

And so as a result we very quickly came together...

...and created the Summer Together initiative

Last year was a year of loss...

...and this summer we were determined for this summer to be a year of recovery

By mid-April 2020...

...1.4bn students were out of school and university across 190 countries

By the start of 2021 schools had been wholly or partly closed...

...for about two-thirds of an academic year

While office workers transitioned to remote working fairly easily...

...it was a different story in schools

Tamara Gilkes Borr is The Economist's US policy correspondent...

...but she used to be a teacher

When I heard that schools were shutting down with maybe a day of notice...

...I just couldn't even imagine how I would have picked up the pieces so quickly...

...and continue to teach my students

We barely had enough working computers when I was a teacher

While new technologies transformed working life in many sectors...

...education has been notoriously slow to digitise

Classrooms today looked the same as they did decades ago

Even though parents often say that they want an innovative...

...new type of education for their children...

...when they walk into the classroom...

...they often want to see the things that they saw when they were children

So there's often pushback against a new kind of education

And there was pushback from teachers too

Many of whom were sceptical about technology...

...that didn't centre on face-to-face learning

In general, education doesn't change much...

...because there's a high cost to being wrong

Why change something up when the alternative could be so much worse?

But the pandemic sparked a techceleration in education...

...as schools rushed online

2.4m learners in America were given emergency internet access

The British government handed out more than 1m devices to students

Some schools even put Wi-Fi boosters on buses and drove them around towns

As demand rocketed, the edtech sector responded...

...designing apps and software to aid teachers rather than replace them

Once teachers had to suddenly become virtual...

...there was an appetite to get better technology in the classroom

And then edtech had an opportunity not only to serve those customers...

...but then they were able to get even better user data...

...and improve their products for a unique subset...

...which is teachers in the classroom

The amount of money spent on edtech globally is expected to double…

...from almost $200bn in 2019 to more than $400bn in 2025

Okay, so today we are going to be focusing on maths...

These students are getting a personalised-learning experience…

...thanks to an app on their laptops

The software is called Century

It was created by Priya Lakhani, a former barrister turned tech entrepreneur

So Century is a blend of artificial intelligence and machine-learning technology...

...with neuroscience and learning science

The idea is that it can personalise and differentiate for every student...

...no matter what age, what course, what language

And it can then use big data analytics...

...and provide educators with instant insights, deep intervention insights...

...as to what they need to do at the point of time...

...to help to increase a student's outcome

On a teacher dashboard, it will allow us to see the children...

...where they're at, how many nuggets they've completed...

...and their average score

Once we've done that, we can then go into it a bit deeper...

...and find out what the nugget is they're doing...

...how they've done on it, what questions they've got right...

...where they're struggling at, if they've skipped any questions

So we can really analyse that data

Priya created Century as a way of addressing the problems she saw...

...in the education sector

We were still delivering a very one-size-fits all education

Every child deserves a personalised, differentiated experience...

...but that's really, really difficult, nearly impossible...

...to provide in every educational setting

The second issue was that teachers spent more than half of their time...

...60% of their time micro-marking, micro-assessing...

...trying to do the admin that was related to the children...

...and not actually spending most of the time teaching

Before, we would have to spend hours and hours...

...marking. We don't have to do that now

It shows us the data and we can see whether it's green, amber, red...

...we can see where the children are working at...

...and we can then pick up on those points to help the children

With children in Britain already spending on average...

...almost four hours a day online…

...some may worry about increased use of technology in the classroom…

...but Laurie Davis reckons it's crucial

Although all children have a laptop, we are not on it all day everyday

We manage what we are doing and we implement it into our learning...

...in a blended-learning approach

At the end of day, every job out there now is using some sort of computer

So we need to lay those foundations...

And if that is how AI develops to give those children a better future...

...then I'm excited about that journey

Tech is also being used in an attempt to revolutionise how teachers teach

So today, you are going to be talking with a group of five students...

These trainees at the University of Virginia are practising their lessons...

...not on children...

...but on avatars

When you're a teacher, the first time is really high stakes

You're working with real kids and you don't often get a second chance...

...to explain a complicated maths concept

And so what these simulations help us do...

...is give our beginning teachers the chance to actually practise that...

...and then do it again once they've gotten feedback

I saw you use a lot of talk moves, in probing the students' thinking...

...and this is a pretty advanced kind of discussion skill

The software is designed by tech company Mursion

Behind the scenes a digital puppetmaster plays the role of the children

That's a good question...

...Um, you know what, I'm going to say Fruit Loops...

...I'd eat Fruit Loops everyday

But the developers of the software hope that in future...

...the avatars can be programmed to think for themselves

The pandemic has also raised questions...

...about whether children need to be taught in a classroom at all

For twins, Julia and Colin MeCey...

...technology has helped give them an altogether different learning experience

They attend a virtual public school...

Are you taking British and world literature?

...which provides them with the equipment they need to learn remotely

So I'm taking a fine arts course, so in my box I have...

...clay and some paintbrushes and then some acrylic coloured paint

Julia moved to full-time remote-learning during the pandemic...

...but Colin was a trailblazer, switching to e-education in 2019

The environment of a one-on-one in comparison to one-on-30...

...is just a lot nicer

I have a lot more contact with my teachers and...

...the classes that are offered is just so much more...

...than what is offered at normal public school...

...like computer science for example

I've been able to take more classes that interest me

I think my grades have been better...

...so I probably will have a better chance of getting into my dream colleges

A recent survey found that nearly a third of American parents...

...say it's likely their child will continue with remote-learning indefinitely

It's unclear to what extent fear of covid has influenced this decision

But roughly 20% of districts in America...

...are planning to offer some form of virtual learning even after the pandemic

We can all agree that most students do better when they're in the classroom...

...but for some students, having to do school remotely was a positive

Some students have anxiety issues...

...and it was easier to work from home, for example

For Dad, Mike, the technology also allows him to keep better tabs...

...on his kids' progress

Then you actually start on Wednesday normal classes?

During the pandemic...

...many teachers told me that this is the first time...

...they've seen so much parent engagement

And a lot of that is because parents are home listening to the lessons...

...but also because they are engaging technology...

...that makes it easier for parents to be up to speed

Not all students can afford the space and internet connection...

...needed to study online...

...which means increased use of remote-learning...

...risks widening the digital divide

Ultimately the barrier to success for all edtech...

...not just e-education, is financial

For edtech to be successful...

...there needs to be investment in the schools that currently are under-resourced

There needs to be a push to make sure that these schools...

...have the proper internet access, the facilities...

...and everything else they need to be able to properly function with edtech

If that doesn't happen, then we will see...

...inequities develop in the classroom and across schools...

The technology that education deserves...

...should be technology that is as advanced, if not more advanced...

...than the technology that is applied to the banking sector

And if you want that sort of technology in the education sector...

...then you're going to have to create a model that investors have an appetite for

The pandemic has made clear the vital role played by teachers

For many students the best place to learn is in the classroom

But technology can and will play a vital role in aiding education

Teachers are seeing the benefit of being able to have a hybrid classroom

And most importantly, they're seeing the skills their students are gaining...

...that they wouldn't have had otherwise...

...and these are skills that I think we all agree these students will need for the future

If you are interested in learning more about covid and education...

...click on the link

Thank you for watching. And please don't forget to subscribe