With the vision to transform the way people connect with the best tutors, MyTutor was founded in 2013. Today, they are the leading online tutoring provider used by over 10,000 students across the UK and beyond. MyTutor were part of the first cohort of participants on the EDUCATE programme.

The work of EDUCATE participants, My Tutor, has been commended in a key report into the use EdTech to support the learning of disadvantaged children, and how it can bridge the gap in achievement between pupils from different backgrounds.

The study, Beyond Gadgets: EdTech to help close the opportunity gap, from the independent think-tank, Reform, examines the need within the English education system to address inequality of opportunity for groups of the population.

MyTutor features as an example of how technology can provide opportunities by offering one-to-one on-line tutoring at a cost that is accessible to families. The company’s own research, conducted as part of the EDUCATE programme, indicated that students receiving online tuition for more than one term make three times greater progress than those who receive none.

James Burton, Head of Data at MyTutor, said: “The Impact Report enabled us to provide robust evidence for how innovative and scalable solutions such as MyTutor can deliver transformational outcomes at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.
“It is the first of what we hope to be many opportunities to help shape the sector through applied evidence.”

Visit the MyTutor website to find out more. 

EDUCATE today (August 20) welcomes 36 entrepreneurs, start-ups and SME on to its unique EdTech programme.

The new entrants are the sixth cohort of innovators to be admitted since the EDUCATE programme was launched in Spring, 2017. The 36 members of the cohort offer a wide range of educational products and services, ranging from monitoring early childhood cognition and adult learning, to career education and enhancing mental health and well-being.

Professor Rose Luckin, Director of EDUCATE, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Cohort 6 to the EDUCATE programme. Since our launch last year, we have seen more than 100 entrepreneurs, SMEs and start-ups commence, and successfully complete, the programme, many of whom have been recognised with our own mark, the EdWard, having satisfied a range of criteria.

“Furthermore, several of our previous participants have gone on to be pioneers in the EdTech sector, attracting investment and ensuring the UK remains a world leader in this field.

“There is no reason why the incoming cohort should not be equally successful, as they bring with them a wealth of ideas and concepts to enhance teaching and learning, and personal development.”

Professor Luckin said the importance of the EDUCATE programme was highlighted recently in Ministerial announcements about a proposed “EdTech revolution” in UK schools.

“Our work on the programme in helping to bring through EdTech innovators and entrepreneurs assumed a renewed importance two weeks ago, when Damian Hinds, the Secretary of State for Education, unveiled his vision of how EdTech sector could improve teaching and learning and cut teacher workload,” she said.

“His input is welcome and timely, as the teaching profession and educationalists look increasingly to how technology can support the teaching and learning of future generations.

“The EDUCATE programme intends to be at the forefront of that important work, and we look forward to sharing our insights, experience and expertise.”

Professor Rose Luckin discusses how AI can help redefine how pupils learn, and what intelligences they will need to succeed and thrive in the workplace of the future, in this article on the website of the World Economic Forum, the international organisation for public-private cooperation.

She explains how educators, and society in general, must radically redefine intelligence, and how AI can be used to help teachers develop and measure human intelligence in its various forms, so that students are better prepared for the workplace of the future – a workplace that will require them to be more adaptable and willing to learn throughout their lives.

Professor Luckin believes that we currently test what can be easily measured, but AI could be used to assess aptitude and ability in other important skills beyond intelligence, such as collaboration, persistence, confidence and motivation.

AI would also enable students to be assessed as they learn – rather than with one-time, end-of-course assessments – using technology and hand-held devices. This would provide teachers with a more accurate picture of students’ strengths and weaknesses, so that learning can be adapted readily to meet their needs.

Professor Luckin argues that AI is already a viable option to replace some tests, and that changing what we measure would alter what we value in our education systems.

“If we can accept that we need to change the assessment system,” she says, “then it opens the door to that radical rethink about what the education system is for.”

Professor Rose Luckin, the director of EDUCATE, has welcomed an announcement today by Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, calling for an ‘EdTech revolution’ in UK schools.

The Secretary of State set out his vision for the use of technology in education and called on the sector to meet five key challenges that would improve teaching and learning, and ease teacher workload.

Professor Luckin, who is professor of Learner Centred Design at the UCL Knowledge Lab, said: “It is great to see Mr Hinds recognising the value of technology in education.

“We know that well-designed and effectively-deployed technology has a positive impact on teaching and learning. We now need the EdTech sector to work with educators and researchers to develop the evidence-informed technology and practice to transform our education system to benefit all learners.”

Outling his vision to the World Education Forum, Mr Hinds said that some schools had already embraced EdTech, bringing education to life with the use of robots and virtual reality, while giving teachers more time to spend with pupils rather than on administrative tasks.

However, he said, only a minority was engaged with technology and he called on industry – both EdTech developers in the UK and the global giants such as Microsoft and Apple – to help tackle five key issues: cutting teacher workload, developing innovative teaching methods, training teachers, making assessment more effective, and promoting lifelong learning.

Mr Hinds said: “Schools, colleges and universities have the power to choose the tech tools which are best for them and their budgets. But they cannot do this alone. It’s only by forging a strong partnership between government, technology innovators and the education sector that there will be sustainable, focused solutions which will ultimately support and inspire the learners of today and tomorrow.”

He urged EdTech developers to get more involved in schools and to work on providing the evidence of the impact they have in the classroom.
The Department for Education will be working with, amongst others, the British Educational Suppliers Association, one of EDUCATE’s partners, to promote EdTech in schools, colleges and universities.

Professor Luckin added: “Since its launch last year, the EDUCATE programme has worked more than 100 entrepreneurs, businesses and start-ups to help bring about exactly the revolution of which the Secretary of State speaks.
“We look forward to sharing our expertise and experience to help make this vision a reality for millions of children and students.”

More information about Damian Hinds’ speech can be found here, and an article written by the Secretary of State is here.