This briefing report synthesises evidence from research and evaluation studies into effective use of digital technologies in Northern Ireland classrooms today and corroborates it with reference to relevant international evidence.

To ensure that the evidence from Northern Ireland’s schools is relatively contemporaneous, we have looked back only to 2010, analysing 44 research, review and reference papers (based on evidence from over 370 school research study visits ), and including a small number of publications prior to 2010.

With a shared focus on the realisation of ‘excellent education’ set out by the Independent Education Review (IER) Panel, the report provides a strong basis for recommendations about the realistic contributions which the use of digital technologies makes to address issues identified by the Panel.