The EdTech Consultancy

Digital Strategy & Change Management

Independent EdTech Advice for schools & businesses

Prepare your students for a future working alongside artificial intelligence

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is happening now. The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2030, 92 million jobs may be displaced by a shift in the division of labour between humans and machines.

The WEF Future of Jobs report of January 2025 proposed 10 key skills necessary for the immediate future.

How well is your school equipping pupils for this future?

Your digital strategy should improve pupils’ digital fluency skills so they are better prepared for a new future where human and artificial intelligence (AI) will work alongside one another.

Use technology to reduce your operating costs, with Agentic AI

After VAT, NI and business rate relief changes, school fees have never been higher. Yet, typically 20% of net fee income is still spent on non-teaching staff in UK independent schools.

Traditional automation technology handles simple, rigid workflows. Agentic AI (like Copilot/Gemini) can reason, plan, and execute complex, cross-system workflows autonomously. That's essential to reducing support staff workload in schools where most administrative work requires cross-referencing information from multiple systems.

Read more in our fee affordability article.

Address the chronic underutilisation of IT in your school

Most school leaders do not feel they are getting value or an Education Return on their IT investment (eROI).

They see IT's potential, but are frustrated with how little IT is used as a tool to add value to teaching and learning. They see low levels of staff IT proficiency, slow speeds of adoption, and ultimately low utilisation. IT's potential and the intended eROI isn't realised.

The COVID pandemic developed teachers' competence in using technology for distance learning, but this has faded now pupils have returned to school.

At the same time, teachers report IT is unreliable in so many schools, meaning they don't feel able to rely on it as a tool for teaching and learning. Printed and physical resources are just so reliable and easy to use in comparison!

These are classic symptoms of a failure of change management and of IT strategy.

Independent advice without a hidden agenda

However, school leaders don't know who they can trust to help them. Everyone seems to have an agenda and something they want to sell on the back of partial advice. And training by itself hasn't worked.

The EdTech Consultancy is different. We do not sell anything, other than our time and experience.

We understand change management. We know it's no use training teachers to use IT before you have addressed their desire to do so.

We treat the two cloud platforms (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace) equally. We will not recommend unnecessary hardware and infrastructure spend.

We are truly independent; advice that you pay for should be independent.

Please get in touch on the form below to see how we can help you.

School children using digital technology

Schools & School groups

Digital Strategy Development

Helping schools and school groups achieve an educational return on their IT investment.

Develop your vision for technology and the necessary digital strategy and change management to realise it.

EdTech businesses

Business Growth Strategy

Helping edtech businesses reach new customers and engage higher with compelling propositions.

Customer-needs research, product management, proposition development, marketing, sales, partnerships and alliances, and business growth strategy.

About us

Alan Hodgin

Director

25 years EdTech experience: IT strategy & consulting, Prosci® (ADKAR) Change Management Practitioner, physics teacher.

Experienced digital strategy consultant helping schools and school groups develop and then successfully implement a digital strategy that makes a difference to students’ learning and develops their digital fluency skills.

Co-author of The ISBA's IT Survey 2018, which provided a clear mandate for change in the approach to school IT for the majority of independent schools.

Speaks extensively on the topic of education technology.

Client References

St Peter's School, York

Jeremy Walker, Head Master

"Alan has brought his great depth of experience in a highly effective way to support our review of technology in teaching and learning across our school, from those in Nursery and Reception to the Upper Sixth.

"Alan clearly appreciates the nature, demands and opportunities of tech in schools and has been able to adapt that to our setting, facilitating the team in making key decisions and setting the path forwards."

Avanti Schools Trust

Mike Ion, Director of Education

"As the Education Director of Avanti Schools Trust, I had the pleasure of working with Alan Hodgin on the development of our trust-wide digital strategy. Alan's expertise and collaborative approach were instrumental in producing a detailed and helpful strategy document that has been invaluable in guiding our digital initiatives.

"Alan ran surveys and workshops to gather valuable input from across our trust. His detailed understanding of the edtech landscape and the latest trends and tools helped us to identify the most effective ways to use technology to enhance teaching and learning outcomes.

"Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the work that Alan has done for us. His thorough approach and attention to detail have resulted in a very helpful strategy document that will continue to guide our digital efforts in the years to come. Thank you, Alan!"

Alpha Academies Trust

Simon French, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Principal

"After working closely with Alpha Academies Trust to guide the development of our digital strategy, I am pleased to provide a recommendation for Alan's exceptional work. Alan demonstrated his expertise in the field by actively seeking input from staff and students, as well as facilitating workshops with academy leaders to identify and agree on shared priorities.

"One of Alan's key contributions was producing a comprehensive and practical digital strategy document that aligned well with Alpha Academies Trust's broader objectives.

"As a strategic thinker, Alan was able to bring teams together and build consensus around a shared vision for the digital future of the trust. His first-hand experience in using technology in the classroom was also invaluable in helping to identify the most effective approaches to implementing digital tools.

"Overall, I would highly recommend Alan to other trusts seeking independent support in developing their digital strategy."

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