RM Technology’s digital learning solution will continue to be used by staff and students across Scotland’s education sector following RM Technology’s partnership extension with Education Scotland. 

Glow, the proprietary software of the edtech company has been implemented across 32 local authorities across Scotland to date. The move has proven to be instrumental in continuing the education of students during the pandemic. 

Now that students are back in schools, educators noticed that the learning habits of students have shifted significantly, which prompted the continued use of the tool. “The way young people learn is evolving as technology continues to advance at a rapid pace,” said education secretary Jenny Gilruth.

Glow simplifies online services used by students such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and shared application libraries. 

Using the tool, students can access learning materials “at any time, on any device with an internet connection,” according to interim chief executive of Education Scotland, Gillian Hamilton.

“This can be used to support everyday learning and teaching as well as helping learning to continue outside of the classroom when pupils or staff are unable to attend school,” continued Gillian

The tool experienced an unprecedented surge in usage during the peak of the pandemic, going from four million monthly logins to 16 million in less than a year. Despite the increase in use, the tool’s application performance index never dipped below 0.94, and frequently operated at 0.98, a near perfect score. 

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“We’re thrilled to continue this journey with Education Scotland. We’ve always seen our technology’s 99.95% uptime rates for schools as a huge achievement, but the fact that we’ve managed to maintain these exceptional levels and help Glow navigate the pandemic confidently and consistently gives us great motivation,” said Jason Tomlinson, managing director at RM Technology.

According to a UK government report, the UK edtech industry grew 72% in 2020 alone, making it one of the fastest growing in Europe by attracting 41% of all investment in educational technology in Europe. This added around £4 billion in GVA to the UK economy the following year. 

Now, the global edtech market size is expected to be worth roughly £186.8bn by 2027 according to numbers from MarketsandMarkets. That growth will happen at an expected compound annual growth rate of 13.2%