All new teachers will have to undergo mandatory training in how to effectively use assistive technology to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the Department for Education announced today.
The education secretary will speak about the plan in a speech at the Bett edtech show today. Tes understands that the requirement for teachers to have this training will come in from September 2025.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson is expected to set out a raft of other measures on technology that the DfE says will shorten time-consuming and costly processes in education and help to drive high and rising standards.
Ai in education
These are expected to include how artificial intelligence (AI) will reduce teacher workload and help to address the recruitment and retention crisis.
There will be training and guidance for teachers and leaders on how to use AI safely and confidently to spend less time on admin, the DfE said.
The resources will be developed by the Chiltern Learning Trust with the Chartered College of Teaching and be ready this spring.
Technology firms and schools
The DfE also said that tech firms have jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Microsoft, Google, Adobe and Amazon Web Services have helped to develop a set of expectations that AI should meet to be considered safe for classroom use.
The framework for these expectations includes enhancing filtering of harmful content and prioritising child-centred design.
The education secretary will further announce a new service, Plan Technology for Your School, intended to help schools to navigate buying technology more easily and prioritise where to invest.
Edtech procurement
The Chartered College of Teaching will deliver a pilot scheme of a new edtech evidence board to look at how the sector can effectively build evidence of which AI products work well.
“We can hope for a brighter future for our children - delivered by a digital revolution in education,” Ms Phillipson is expected to say.
“I will take up this great new technological era to modernise our education system, to back our teachers and to deliver better life chances for our children across the country.”
Finally, the DfE said it is developing a digital service that will bring together services and information from the department in one place.
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