Remember when you were in school and you were given weekly lists of words, with little or no relevance to your lessons or your life, and made to commit them to memory? How about those little primers that focus on mundane activities with a set of vocabulary words artificially embedded into the storyline? Well, chances are those same wordlists and primers are still being handed out today. Nothing has changed for decades.

Society as a whole now understands the importance of a more rounded approach to education, focusing on a child’s personal development rather than just academic achievements. Therefore, developing and fostering a more child-centric culture is an integral part of early childhood education.

“The adoption deficit has one fundamental consequence. Teachers work longer hours. The failure of some leaders to comprehend what is possible inevitably means that old processes lead to longer working hours for teachers” - Mark Bocker, headteacher and education consultant.

We posed this question to a selection of edtech leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds. These people come from a variety of organisations, countries and areas of expertise, taking in fields such as SEN, interactive displays, cybersecurity, computing and small, colourful Danish bricks.

When asked about the most memorable songs of all time, what springs to mind? The Killers’ Mr Brightside, Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time, or Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean? There are so many songs that no matter how much time has passed, you’re able to sing-along to every lyric without hesitation.

As I write this, making my way back from this year’s Bett Show, my train journey is the perfect time to take stock, relax, and think about all of the things I’ve seen this weekend.

Since I was a teenager, I have always looked forward to the In/Out List published in the Washington Post right before the start of each new year. So, as Innovate My School discusses the ‘Hottest EdTech Trends’ this month, I thought I’d have a little fun and put my own spin on the idea.

Edtech has made a huge impact in the education sector. The advent of digitally-enabled classrooms, cloud-based content, ebooks, and online assessment modified the learning process in a truly positive way throughout last year. You can expect to see these edtech trends of 2017 continue to flourish in the coming year.

With artificial intelligence (AI) on the rise, educators have increasingly reflected on how this might impact teaching in the coming years, with some of the more scary predictions even suggesting that machines could one day replace teachers altogether. This fear is largely unfounded and an unhelpful way to think about AI and education; rather than posing a threat, when used correctly AI could actually be the very best sidekick for teachers in the classroom.

Catrin Parry-Jones, headteacher at West Earlham Junior School in Norwich, discusses how her school has raised standards and attainment: