Key Speaker

This is Minister for Learning, Science and Languages MSP Dr Alastair Allan giving a presentation at the Learning Through Technology conference in Edinburgh today. This wasn't the most inspiring if speeches but it did give the impression that the government is committed to supporting the use of technology in education through the provision of a strong infrastructure backbone. That's good. However they also need to back that up by removing the barriers faced by many teachers wishing to use tech in innovative ways. Some of these barriers relate to school bureaucracy which is farcical in this day and age. Some to do with budget cuts by local authorities, some by the challenges posed by the implementation of Cfe. If they want Glow to do what Dr Allen wants it to do, they need to make it easy to access. I have four kids in the current school system. They don't know their passwords....
Once he had finished, Dr Allen fielded questions well and came across as someone willing to listen to the issues. Hope so, as there is a fair bit to resolve and I would suggest that the technical ones are the easiest! A good two days of talkin' tech.