GOVERNMENTS ACROSS Europe are not doing enough to fund technology in schools, according to an Intel survey of teachers announced at the start of BETT, the world’s largest education technology exhibition taking place in London this week.

For the 600 exhibitors and the 30,000 expected visitors, it is a sobering reminder of the gap between what could be achieved and what is actually happening.

Some 98 per cent of teachers believe being able to use a computer is critical in preparing students for work, and 76 per cent are calling on their respective governments to do more.

In the bustling aisles of an exhibition that attracts teachers from around the world, innovation and creativity were a recurring theme.

Interactive whiteboards, virtual learning platforms and educational games showed off the possibilities, but getting more of the technology into the classroom is proving to be a bigger challenge than using it.

And not everyone is convinced that the investments that have been made to date have been the right ones.

Prof Stephen Heppell, a leading expert on the creative possibilities of ICT in education, used a keynote speech to criticise the way technology has been deployed in schools.

“We have locked down the internet and delivered it as a managed service,” he said. “Heaven knows why when the web gives you everything on a plate.”

He spoke disparagingly about “office tools” that were used in the classroom, and how technology had been reeled in, but he was convinced that this would change despite the role of education policy makers.

“Policy doesn’t matter. It’s a bottom-up revolution. Technology and people break cartels; just look at what happened to the music industry. And education is a cartel.”

Prof Heppell’s argument is that young people will find ways around the constraints, and harness the technology that comes naturally to them.

He had set up a playful learning zone in the middle of the main exhibition to prove his point.

Surrounded by blue-chip IT companies, children played educational games and gave a different insight into the application of technology in the classroom than the sales demonstrations taking place on neighbouring stands.

The argument that technology improves learning was won long ago, and was reiterated in the Intel survey.

Almost 80 per cent of teachers said technology increases students’ interest in learning and 57 per cent believe it improves academic performance.

The challenge is finding the best way to use it and the money to pay for it.