Next in our series of edtech thought leader Q&As is this conversation with Rowena Hackwood, Chief Executive Officer at Astrea Academy Trust, a family of 29 schools across South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire with a proven track record of school improvement.

It was great to be able to get the perspective of a MAT leader as it’s something both edtech and MIS suppliers need to have at the heart of their product strategy. In this interview we talk about:

• What drives Rowena and her work in education
• Her approach to taking on a MAT, and what’s involved in the first 6 months as a new MAT CEO
• The most important factors when looking at edtech solutions across her MAT, and the biggest issues
• Innovation across the edtech sector as a whole, and what she’d like to see tackled by suppliers

We’ve split the interview into four parts to make it easier to digest. Enjoy!

How important is human contact?

When lockdown happened back in March, like many other businesses, our business lost all in-person contact with the outside world (and it was hard!).

But as humans we all want to deal with other humans; it’s so important to have a real face and a real person behind your solutions.

It’s for that reason we set up online chats with various people in our industry to talk trends, try to make future predictions in a changing world, and generally shoot the breeze. We’ve been sharing the recordings and the response has been great, I think everyone wants to get to know the faces behind the companies too!

So thank you James Weatherill, Richard Harley, Ali Guryel, Winston Poyton and Barry Anns for giving us an insight into the school MIS market which has seen some big changes this year.

Thanks to Mark Tadman, Guthrie Denniston and Martin Baker for talking to us about all the things you do alongside the MIS solutions and the ways in which you help schools.

And finally thank you Phil Neal, Joshua Perry and Graham Reed for your views and ideas on what might happen next and the big trends in edtech.

Nick and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series, here’s to many more in 2021!

Are you and your edtech partners ready for the next generation of technology?

I’m looking forward to presenting a session on this subject at the virtual GESS Dubai later this month. Not quite the same as being there in the sunshine, but I’m excited all the same!

If you look around at the world and at how industry is using technology, education is behind the curve. This has a major impact on children in preparing them for adulthood, not just regarding how they manage what technology throws at them but, more importantly, are they curious to see how technology can benefit them and the world around them.

The goal of my presentation is for leaders in schools and the education market to push suppliers to use the latest technology and drive innovation.  Look forward to seeing you there!

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GESS is a two-day EdTech-focused event for leading educators who directly influence purchasing, owners of schools or those influencers who direct school strategy and training in the EdTech sphere.  You can register to see my presentation and listen to many other great speakers here.

#GESSDubai #GESSEdtech

During lockdown I had a virtual get together with One Team Logic CEO, Martin Baker, to talk about how his company helps schools handle safeguarding issues using their MyConcern software.

We talk about teaching, safeguarding, his background in the police force, the pressure on school staff, Kris Akabusi, and a great deal more!

This instalment in our series of Q&As with edtech business leaders doesn’t just focus on software and solutions; we talk about the wider, more serious issues around child safety, grooming, the role of parents, and how ill-equipped many people really are to deal with very difficult issues.

We’ve split it into four parts to make it easier to digest. Hope you like it, and we’d welcome your comments.

Over the summer, we took the opportunity to have a virtual get together with thought leader and entrepreneur Josh Perry to talk all things education.

Josh has a diverse and creative background, having worked in a large, progressive MAT himself and then going on to start numerous edtech businesses.

Really interesting views on everything from the role of MATs in an emerging tech market, his new projects (including Carousel, Smartgrade and advisory work), trends in the MIS sector, his Bring More Data blog, thoughts on forthcoming MIS mergers/acquisitions, and a great deal more!

Lots of insightful stuff was discussed so we’ve split the interview out into separate parts below – enjoy!

I have now been working with a number of companies across the Edtech market for over 18 years. The one thing that always inspires me is the innovative, engaging companies that want to get it right.

However, there are a number of companies that just do not understand the Education market.  And so, while they may have a great solution, they are not really working on their Product Strategy and how they need to adapt to a market where relationships and advocates are essential to strong growth and success.

The Education market is unique in many ways to other private sector markets and as an Edtech company you need to be able to talk the right language and work in a slightly different way. If I was a MAT or a school there should be 3 key things I would be looking for in a company, never mind the solution they are selling to me.

Relationship

Does this company want to work in partnership?  This means not going missing, once you have sold to a school or MAT.

A School is an exceedingly busy place with lots of challenging priorities for peoples time. The person in the office could be putting a plaster on a knee one minute and then dealing with the police on a bullying incident the next. But ultimately the children come first, not embedding a solution. A school needs support throughout this process and then ongoing support with new functionality and getting the most out of a solution.

Just because a school is paying for a solution doesn’t mean they are using it, eventually a school will stop paying and never go back. As a company stay in touch, help out!!

Also there are companies that can add support which are local to schools, engage with them to help make the most of a solution.

What the solution does now

Many schools don’t have the time to do an audit on their solutions, but I suggest they should. Remember, a solution is there to support a need.

Schools should look at their own processes and ask the question:

• Can this be done better via a technical solution or by a different solution?
• Are my incumbent solutions really meeting our needs anymore?
• Are our needs the same as a bigger school down the road? if not consider looking at lighter solutions or a reduction in cost due to the amount of the solution you are using.
• For the need that the solution meets, is the cost acceptable, is there an alternative?

Needs change along with your ambitions, so should companies to meet your needs.

The Future

Technology and challenges in schools are changing at a rapid pace. As a school or MAT you need to be comfortable that the Edtech partners you have are able to rise to this challenge.

To this end, I would be asking the companies you are working with for a view on their vision. Where they see the Edtech market moving towards, and how they are going to meet these future challenges for schools and MATs.

Gain an understanding of are they nimble or slow, will they let you down in the future? Will they listen to you and help find solutions to your needs in the future?

I am sure there are many other things a school or MAT is looking for in a company, when they are dealing with them, let me have your thoughts?

As EdTech companies grow and the nature of technology evolves into the world of SaaS and apps, there’s often confusion around where Product Management should sit in the organisation.

Traditional consumer organisations have had a tendency to consider Product Management in the same arena as Marketing.  However, the danger here is when Marketing is actually ‘Marketing Communications’ (sadly often the case in EdTech) – it means that no-one is involved in defining and delivering the products.

In a lot of Tech companies, the Product Management function tends to be viewed in the technical arena, lumped in with the Development Directorate.  The problem here is that the Product Managers can get tied up in functionality and requirements. They can spend so much time building products that there is no-one engaging the customers to understand their problems; no-one looking ahead and strategising as to what the business needs to do in the future to continue to be successful

To drive the maximum success from a Product Management team, you need to understand exactly what their role is.

A successful Product Management Directorate looks at the needs of the entire business and the entire market.  It’s broadly comprised of three main focuses:

• Product strategy
• Product marketing
• Technical product management

The Product Management Directorate will focus the product management team on the business of building solutions for needs now and into the future.  The team will:

• engage and communicate with existing and potential customers
• articulate and quantify market problems
• create business cases and market requirements documents
• define standard procedures for product delivery and launch
• support the creation of collateral and sales enablement tools
• train the sales teams on the product

Within the EdTech market the truth is: if you want better products in the future, and for the product management team to be held accountable at organisational level, then it must be represented at Board level in its own right.

Have you read the publication from TES https://www.tes.com/news/why-are-some-children-leaving-school-still-unable-read on why some children are not able to read adequately by the time they have left Secondary school?  What a travesty!  It’s an issue we need to understand better on the causes, but it is essential we resolve.

What Dianne and James Murphy focus on is absolutely correct, no child should come out of Secondary Education without being able to read sufficiently. We all need to be passionate about this due to the potential social issues that permeate, like the greater risk to the person becoming a NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training) or even ending in prison.

Reading is one of the fundamental life skills that needs to be instilled into pupils as part of their Primary Education.

I fully appreciate that not every child either enjoys or is able to read to the standards of their peers.  However, the main principals need to have to be learnt by the time they have left Primary education. I worry that too many children ‘slip through the net’ due to needs that are not understood until too late.  As with adults, children are fully aware of the stigma of not being able to read and as such try to hide any potential issues rather than look for support.

Personal Experience

On a personal level I am fully aware of how dyslexia can affect your ability to read or write – and the impact on how you digest information. As I grew up I have had to find mechanisms to help me (thankfully my wife is a great proof reader of my content!).  However, at school I did what a lot of students do and became disruptive and a truant to disguise this issue.

Can technology help?

We need to look towards technological solutions to identify these individual needs and not just rely on what either a pupil says or does. We should be looking at technology to support the professional job that teachers do so they can put in place those strong interventions so that none of our children fall behind.

As part of the work I do in looking at technology to solve the needs in education, one company I was really impressed with has a solution that is up for the Bett awards called Lexplore . It can identify reading needs in children, not just dyslexia, I would suggest having a look and make your own minds up. This is a great tool and, alongside our great teachers, we can stop the travesty of our children leaving education without being able to read!!

For many of you this week will be about one thing and one thing alone.  The stand will have been built and the first queue of visitors will soon be going through the doors. In can only be the Bett show.

The Bett show seems to get bigger and bigger each year with the exhibitors becoming more and more creative around how they attract the visitors to their stands, meaning it’s always an endurance contest for exhibitors and visitors alike!   Here are my 5 top tips to help you survive the Bett show:

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Nothing can prepare you for how long, hot and tiring the day at Bett can be. The canny exhibitors know how big a draw the promise of some refreshing water or a hot coffee and the opportunity for a sit-down can be and offer these free to visitors on their stands. Be prepared and take a water bottle or risk dehydration. (Ditto lip balm – it’s a hostile environment in there!)

2. Throat sweets

You’re about to spend the next four days talking to potential clients and suppliers and, what with 800+ companies exhibiting and god knows how many visitors attending, the noise will be deafening! I’ll give you until Thursday evening before you’re on the Soothers.

3. Comfy shoes

Don’t look at your lovely new shoes that go really well with your suit and think “they’ll be alright”. They won’t.  Excel is a huge venue – whether you’re a visitor or an exhibitor you are going to walk for miles and spend hours and hours on your feet. Choose the comfiest, oldest shoes you own – you’ll be glad you did.

4. Mints (and gum, etc.)

It may or may not be for you, but there are lots of people who really take advantage of the socialising and networking opportunities the Bett show offers. And by that, I mean lots of booze, restaurants and late nights. . . . which is a great thing to do but can often leave you and your colleagues feeling a little special in the morning. So do everyone a favour and have a good supply of mints and gum for anyone who needs it. And paracetamol for that matter.

5. Enjoy yourself

No matter how tiring you find it, Bett is a fantastic opportunity to network, find out what’s going on technology-wise in the education market and build relationships. Everyone who attends is there for a reason – they want to find out more. Everyone who exhibits is also there for a reason – they want to showcase their new stuff to schools and academies. Smile and enjoy it – it’s a fantastic opportunity to be made the most of (even if you can’t walk at the end of it!)

Best wishes to all exhibitors and visitors at #Bett2018 – hope you have a fantastic show!