The Department for Education is planning to ask teachers to help it “measure and monitor” the edtech response to the coronavirus crisis, new documents reveal.

The project, aimed at delivering and building on elements of the edtech strategy launched by the DfE last year, aims to gather data on the “current landscape of technology” in English schools and explore teachers’ “attitudes and perceptions of technology in education”.

It also seeks to “measure and monitor the impact of the edtech strategy and Covid-19 response-related activity” - which the DfE hopes will “inform future initiatives and edtech policy post-Covid-19”.

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The contract notice states that the “random probability survey” will be completed by teachers, headteachers and business managers at maintained primary and secondary schools in England.

“The design should enable us to detect statistically significant differences over time so that we can monitor progress on key indicators,” the DfE says.

The department has allocated a budget of up to £90,000 to carry out the research.

According to the contract notice, the project aims to:

• Understand the current landscape of technology in schools in England, including state, type, use and spread of technology.
• Explore attitudes and perceptions of technology in education among teachers and headteachers.
• Explore the demands and needs of teachers when it comes to technology in education.
• Explore barriers to effective technology adoption in schools.
• Measure and monitor the impact of the edtech strategy and Covid-19 response-related activity.

It adds that this will “help DfE build on the edtech strategy” by helping it:

• Understand what more can be done to support schools to reap the benefits of technology.
• Iterate the focus of peer to peer support and research programmes.
• Inform future initiatives and edtech policy post-Covid-19.

The contract summary states: “Expressions of interest are sought to conduct an education technology (edtech) survey, which will collect robust evidence on the current state of technology in schools in England to help inform policy development and delivery of initiatives announced in the edtech strategy, Realising the potential for technology in education, as well as Covid-19 response activity and next steps.”

The project is expected to run from September 2020 to March 2021, with fieldwork carried out between October and December 2020.

The DfE says it will require a draft report of headline findings in January 2021 and a final report by March 2021.

“We will also require interim findings on a small number of key variables mid-way through the fieldwork period to inform policy,” the contract notice adds.