Teachers want tech support

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Teachers believe technology is necessary to keep up the quality of education, but they need support to back them up, according to a new survey.

A poll conducted by ZyXEL Communications at the BETT show in London earlier this month showed that 85 per cent of IT staff and head teachers believe the quality of education will fall if they can not provide adequate technology for their students.

The survey also showed that two-thirds of respondents believed that current government policy needed an overhaul. "It's inadequate to what's needed," said Sarah Guy, marketing director at ZyXEL.

Guy said schools also asked for more day-to-day support from suppliers, who they said needed to better understand the specialist concerns of educators - especially as technology takes students out of the classroom more.

Indeed, seven out of 10 of those surveyed said they expected remote access to schoolwork to improve in the next five years. "We're seeing increasing movement with encouraging home access," said Guy.

The survey also found that 69 per cent of those surveyed were not concerned about electromagnetic radiation of wireless networks. "There's been a lot of media hype on that," Guy said. "Schools are not as concerned as media makes them out to be."

"A lot of its more about educating parents about the risks involved, rather than ripping it out," she added.

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