I have to admit that I’m an EdTech enthusiast and believe it can have a transformative impact in the classroom – when it is sensibly and carefully implemented.
Before the pandemic, successful roll outs would take months to plan and deliver. However, during the first lockdown this changed. We were offered the opportunity to get involved in a pilot a new maths learning platform in our 45 schools along with three other multi academy trusts. Despite being in the depths of the first lockdown, we made the decision to go ahead.
The pilot involved comparing the impact on learning of Sparx Maths with HegartyMaths. We’d been using HegartyMaths across our schools for some years and we’d not expected to change. However, both Sparx Maths and HegartyMaths are part of the same parent company. This had enabled them to analyse large anonymous data sets for each product and compare results. The in-depth research had shown that the amount of home learning students completed was greater with Sparx Maths than with HegartyMaths.
The senior team at United Learning studied this data with care. Although we had concerns about changing from a well-established maths homework tool to a new one, we could see the valuable support it could provide to our maths teachers at, what was, a challenging time. Furthermore, Sparx was offering access free of charge for a year with comprehensive technical support and involvement – they were keen to help at this much needed time.