It's great to have this chance to reflect on the recent years of transformation through technology.  In that time, floppy disks have become obsolete, air-line tickets have become outdated and video players a thing of the past. 

Technology is even moving faster than James Bond.
He was seen texting in his latest film, though perhaps there technology is going backwards - I seem to remember him using a mobile to drive a car a couple of films ago. 

Our daily lives have been transformed through technology. Nowhere is that seen more clearly than in our classrooms.   
Back in1922 Thomas Edison said "I believe the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." 

While that prediction hasn't quite come to pass, and I see still a future for text books. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that technology will revolutionise education in this country - indeed that revolution has already begun.      

Far from the stories of science fiction, it can be seen in every single school, every single day. 

Schools texting parents when children are absent.  Pupils watching their podcasts storm the charts.  Learners logging on in their living rooms.  Governors holding virtual meetings and voting with the touch of a button. 

All this has been achieved with unprecedented investment.  Spending on school ICT has risen 6 fold since 1998.  By 2008, we will have invested over 5 billion pounds in state-of-the-art technology for schools. 

For example, virtually all schools now have access to a high speed broadband network and a range of on-line resources and services far beyond the Prime Minister's original target set in 2002. 

We have a reputation in this field as a true world leader.  That's why we are pleased to welcome so many international representatives from the Moving Young Minds seminar.  

They have been with us from the beginning of the week sharing their own experiences, and I know we have all learned a great deal.  I hope they enjoy their visit to BETT.

I'm delighted to have this opportunity to look forward and set out some of my priorities for further progress. 
Because despite significant increases in standards, considerable challenges remain in education. 

We must continue to raise standards in all schools.  We must narrow the gaps in achievement between different groups and different areas. 

We must reach out to those young people who drop out at 16, offering them the kind of exciting and inspiring curriculum that they need and deserve. 

Our fantastic achievements have not weakened our resolve to improve further.  To enable every single child in schools to reach their full potential.  

Teachers, schools, local authorities all share that ambition. 
And technology has a hugely important contribution to make.   

One in five schools and colleges have already fully integrated ICT into all aspects of school life.  The most effective schools provide clear evidence that technology is helping to improve achievement and open up choice through innovation. 

It's time to ensure every school steps up and follows their lead.   And we will only achieve this with your help. 

I see technology as the central enabler for continued improvement.  We need people to want to use it, and know how to maximise the benefits.  Because it is not a magic bullet but a practical tool to benefit every school, every teacher, and every pupil. 

One of the most important outcomes is that it will help realise personalised learning.  Just last week, we published the review of Technology and Learning in 2020. 

It said personalised learning is a highly structured and responsive approach to every child's learning, so all children can progress, achieve and participate. 

And the Review was very clear on the importance of technology to delivering personalised learning.  Most obviously, it opens doors to an incredible wealth of resources and materials. 

Technology blurs the boundary between formal and informal learning, as children can log on where-ever and when-ever appropriate. 

It enables direct and immediate communication between schools and parents - through websites, texts and emails. 
And it helps children work better together, sharing their ideas and resources from the palms of their hands. 

One award winning example is Hartside primary school in County Durham.  They have embraced the principle that's central to success - technology is most useful when it's thoroughly embedded in practice, not just an afterthought.

The school has developed a culture where children work collaboratively, think creatively and solve problems.  

And technology completely supports this creative culture. 
Whether composing music, creating talking photograph albums, or designing animation, technology is the thread running through their classrooms - imaginative development as well as practical skills.

Technology is also an essential tool to help teachers plan, assess and monitor progress. 
This doesn't always mean a formal testing - voting buttons can be used to immediately check understanding. 

Wildern School in Southampton has used technological solutions to develop an outstanding approach to assessment, where pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their own progress. 

Wildern worked with a neighbouring school to come up with a tracking system to monitor that progress and compare it with other pupils. 

Subject leaders can assess whole class performance by gender, enabling them to really focus on boys' performance.  This has led to dramatic improvements in results - putting them in the top 50 schools in the country.   

Great schools like Wildern have always known that using assessment to drive improvement is central to success.  This assessment for learning is one of the features in the 2020 review as really supporting personalised learning.   

That means assessment which informs progression by providing a developing picture rather than a snapshot. 

Assessment which is used to mark a staging post in ongoing learning rather than being the end point.

Assessment which defines what needs to be done next, to deepen understanding and improve skills.     

This kind of formative assessment needs to sit absolutely alongside the summative assessment which has been such a central part of the drive to raise standards. 

It will support the new focus on progression we have been talking about - so no child gets stuck or falls behind.   

This focus which will recognise those who work incredibly hard but just miss out on a grade C at GCSE.  A focus which will inspire high achievers to reach for the stars rather than settle for a passing grade.     

Therefore, with the importance of progression in mind, we have been reviewing how best to use the ICT key stage 3 test which has been developed over the last few years. 

This test has real potential to support assessment for learning.  But to realise this potential, teachers should be able to use this test at any point when pupils are ready, as a resource which can indicate student's strengths and weaknesses, propelling them to further success. 

So we have decided that this test will not be statutory at the end of the Key Stage.  Instead, we will make it available for use throughout the whole Key Stage.    

We will be revising the test that has been piloted, focusing on developing materials which can be used more flexibly throughout the key stage.  More detailed advice to schools will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.  

Another challenge mentioned at the beginning is the importance of ensuring that more young people stay in education after they are 16 - critical to shaping the highly skilled workforce of the future. 

To rise to this challenge, we are currently engaged in the most radical reforms going on in education in the world - the development of an exciting new curriculum bringing together the very best of practical and academic learning. 

The new diploma qualifications will motivate, engage and inspire young people - helping them see the importance of staying on and developing their skills.

Eventually, every young person will be able to choose from the full range of diplomas.  But because of their diversity, no single school will be able to offer them all.
But technology can really help with new forms of delivery - the 14 to 19 pathfinders have already shown the way.

For example, in Shropshire, they have been using technological solutions to overcome the difficulties of delivering this offer in sparse rural areas.

E-learning has been reducing the need for travel, while PDAs have increased choice, options and guidance for young people across all ability ranges. 

And Southfields Community College in Wandsworth has used video conferencing to offer sessions for an A and AS level Psychology course for the past three years - increasing choice and opportunity. 

And technology may be particularly effective at engaging those who have traditionally been hard to reach - helping to both secure their participation and raise attainment.   

For example, I was talking yesterday about the success of the project which has used technology to keep traveller children learning when they are out of the classroom.

And in Cumbria, they have found that excluded pupils have been taking responsibility for their learning by logging on at home to use revision materials.

These examples show the importance of ensuring every child shares in the benefit of technology. 

Last year, Ruth Kelly pledged to ensure that the most disadvantaged families are not excluded from this progress.  I want to reaffirm our commitment to that today. 

The so-called digital divide cannot be allowed to create and reinforce social and academic divisions. 

Already, through the Computers for Pupils initiative, we are making significant strides towards that pledge.  We estimate around 200, 000 children from the most disadvantaged families will have access to computers and internet connectivity through this programme. 

But that isn't enough.  With more than 800 000 children and young people still restricted to access at school, we run the risk that they could be isolated and left behind.   

There is no sense in asking every school to provide a learning platform to support children at home if some - likely to be the ones who might most benefit - are cut off from that platform.   

Today, I not only want to reinforce that commitment, but to talk further about our aspiration for universal home access and how that might be made a reality. 

The way to achieve this is by thinking both innovatively and practically, and to use the wisdom of those who really know what they are talking about.  That's why we are relying on industry to help with this - and many thanks to Intel, RM and Dell who already doing just that. 

We need to come up with a sustainable solution which will work for future generations as well as this one, building on existing good practice rather than looking for a quick fix. 

We need to build on the success of the 20 % of secondary schools which already have home loan schemes. 

Open up after-school access to pupils and their parents through extended schools.
Continue to support the excellent work of the eLearning Foundation who have been helping schools to establish home access schemes in their communities.   

We are already committed to expanding this last initative.  We will offer the Foundation another million pounds next year to deliver grants to schools.  We expect them to lead the voluntary sector in supporting home access. 

Alongside the voluntary sector, we will also depend on the support of industry to make this a reality.  So today, I want to issue both an invitation and a challenge. 

I am asking you to work with us alongside Intel, Dell and RM.  Help us come up with the specific proposals, the concrete details to deliver this ground-breaking ambition.

I am setting up a Home Access Taskforce which I will personally chair. 
I want this to bring together key industry players, the voluntary sector, and education representatives to look at the issues.  Because ICT at every child's fingertips is not the be-all and end-all of our ambitions. 

We need to make sure that schools and teachers can take full advantage, and parents too can play a significant role.   

So classroom practice will have to adapt to the knowledge that children can access resources at home.  It will also mean advice to parents so that they can help their children get the most out of their resources.  Let's not forget that the extended family too will benefit. 

And of course, all access to the internet by children must be safe access.   

These are potential challenges but not insurmountable obstacles, as long as we work more effectively together. 
I know that in asking industry to work together, that you need us to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. 

I know that you - as well as schools - need greater clarity about who does what, where to turn when you need resources or advice. 

And I am committed to more effective partnership working between government agencies as the only way to meet the outcomes set out in the e-strategy.

BECTA takes the lead in this area and will be joining up all the pieces to create a coherent picture. 

Already, they are having significant successes - just two short years ago, we asked them to develop a tool for school self-assessment and already more than 4, 500 schools have taken advantage of that. 

And over the last three years the BECTA procurement frameworks have generated a saving of £100 million.  

Now BECTA is developing their new, more strategic role based on positive relationships with all partners, across all
sectors of education. 

They will be working with the Training and Development Agency and the National College for School Leadership to develop the skills of teachers and leaders so they are competent and confident in using all the new resources and materials to best effect.

Working with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to ensure that the curriculum doesn't just focus on what pupils need to learn, but also increasingly how and where they might learn.

Working with the National Strategies to use technology to raise standards in the core subjects, and understand how teaching practice can be developed to make the most of these new opportunities.

We have recognised the increasing importance of technology with a new Chief Information Officer Group to help get both our internal systems and our external information strategy right.  And we have set up a Technology Futures Unit to work with BECTA on our strategic direction.   

Looking to the future, we will shortly begin working with the Government's Chief Scientist, Sir David King, to engage with scientists world-wide.

Gathering information and intelligence about their research into the direction that learning, teaching and technology will take. 
This will really strengthen our understanding of future trends.  Taking us away from reliance on a few gurus - though of course, we are fortunate enough to be able to call on some of the world's best.   Towards a more systematic way of understanding the future, involving both education providers and industry. 

Together, all this work will mean a coherent national strategy, supporting and encouraging all schools to adopt the best practise in technological innovation for the benefit of all learners. 

To conclude, I am committed to ensuring that we will be far-sighted enough to shape the strategic context through policies that make sense for schools and the industry. 

That we will be pro-active in seizing the opportunities technologies offers rather than being overwhelmed by the pace of change. 
That we will support our workforce to ensure that those opportunities are understood and accepted in the classroom.

And most importantly, I am committed to ensuring that we get it right for all learners. 

Technology will be a vital part of our drive to securing higher standards and better schools for all.  But only with your help will we make the most of it.  Thank you very much.