In a keynote speech to the BETT educational technology show in London, Nicky Morgan MP had warm words for a project under which the Stephen Perse Foundation in Cambridge is publishing 12 textbooks which support IGCSE Biology. The books, written by teacher Alex van Dijk and produced by digital curator Aisling Brown, are free to download through Apple’s iBooks store. The school is believed to be the first in the UK to publish free online textbooks covering an entire exam syllabus.
Mrs Morgan told the event that there had “never been a more exciting time to think about the way in which emerging technologies can transform the world of education”.
She praised the Stephen Perse Foundation for making the multimedia textbooks available online for all to use, saying such things “helped spread good practice from school to school”.
The Cambridge IGCSE Biology course is taken by around 500,000 students in 160 countries worldwide. Michael O’Sullivan, Chief Executive for Cambridge International Examinations, who is blogging live from BETT 2015, welcomed the Education Secretary’s comments.
“The English Secretary of State for Education is surely right to foresee an ever-growing role for such digital technology in teaching, learning and assessment,” he said.