PedTech

PedTech - short for Pedagogical Technology - is about starting with your beliefs (e.g. about how people learn and what it is important for them to learn) and then thinking about whether/how digital technology might support that learning.

All education is driven by a purpose or vision, informed by values and beliefs — both individual and collective. The curriculum sets out what would be learned if that vision were being achieved, while assessment provides evidence of the extent to which it is being realised. Pedagogy — how, why, and when people learn — is equally grounded in values and beliefs.

A PedTech framing recognises that assessment drives practice by shaping curriculum and pedagogy, and that digital technology sits at the centre of this, because it touches so many elements of how education works. Crucially, at the heart of education are human beings — learners, teachers, leaders, families — each interacting through different relationships and behaviours, informed by different values and beliefs.

Our argument is that digital technology use should always be viewed through the lens of your Pedagogical Stance — the values and beliefs that underpin your practice — not the other way around.

From EdTech to PedTech

From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the Way We Think about Digital Technology was written by Fiona Aubrey-Smith and Peter Twining and published by Routledge in 2024.

The book makes the case that thinking about technology in education needs to shift — away from a focus on the tools themselves (EdTech) and towards a focus on our beliefs about how people learn and what they need to learn and then how digital technology might support that learning (PedTech). Drawing on decades of research and classroom practice, it offers educators and school leaders a practical framework for making technology decisions that genuinely serve learning.

View on Routledge