At the UK’s Westminster Education Forum this week, a number of specialists, including an academic and the head of the British Educational Suppliers Association, warned “many schools are ‘confused’ by the range of software, equipment and providers on offer, and are unable to make good procurement decisions.” Dr Sarah Younie, professor of education innovation at De Montfort University, said local authorities used to negotiate with EdTech suppliers, but this task is now often left to individual schools since the onset of academies. There used to be a public body that promoted IT in education and was funded by the Department for Education, but it was abolished in the 2010 post-election spending review. Schools now lack the knowledge of what is available and how best to buy it. Read more here.