A principal stopped by our stand at the ISNZ conference and asked what we’re doing about students handing in work that isn’t their own, now that AI is everywhere. I heard versions of this question throughout the conference, all with the same concern: how can we tell what a student actually knows?
It’s a broad question. Student work now comes back polished, and the thinking behind it’s harder to see. Leaders also told me they’re monitoring screen time far more closely. Every minute on a personal device has to earn its place, and with budgets growing extra tight, every tool must justify itself by offering teachers insights that they can practically act upon.
These concerns make a useful test for any digital tool (ours included). Platforms like EP can quickly produce student feedback at scale. But no resource can tell you what that feedback means for your students. This judgement belongs to teachers. Engagement metrics don’t offer this, though evidence of student thinking does.
Educate Ventures Research in London, Professor Rose Luckin’s team, is currently running a study on what changes in schools using our platform. Interim findings have come back from St Mary MacKillop in Canberra. Of the eight aspects of teaching practice that EVR measured, from differentiation and student motivation to teacher confidence, EP’s timely feedback capabilities were rated most positively. This came through consistently when teachers, students and leaders were interviewed separately.
My favourite line came from a Year 10 student, when asked about EP: it “forces me to actually use my brain.”
This quote answers the question that many school leaders at our conference stand kept asking. Teachers set the expectations for students, EP surfaces immediate feedback, and students still do the thinking themselves.
At the conference, leaders also raised concerns about the number of digital tools in their schools. A dozen products used by or pitched at teachers, plenty hosting data overseas, rarely integrated, and a tight budget underpinning the lot. We’re a local company. Student data stays onshore, and we check specific security standards rather than take a supplier’s word for it.
So, here’s what I’d ask any EdTech provider:
What can a teacher see because of this tool, and what can they achieve with it each week?
Where does student data live, and who can read it?
Is this tool earning its place, without taking up the whole day? Online-only teaching isn’t the goal.
ISNZ members didn’t want a product demo; they wanted clear answers about EdTech’s visible impact: to leaders, to families, and to the boards who ask what the school is getting back.
A good tool knows its place. The best a platform can do is give teachers more ways to reach more students, then get out of the way.
Interested in learning more? Check out educationperfect.com/impact, and get in touch with our team at support@educationperfect.com to have your school’s rep walk your leadership team through the EVR impact report.
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