A helping hand: 5 tools to reduce teacher workload

It’s no secret that teaching is a profession with a seriously heavy workload. According to a recent Department for Education (DfE) survey, the average teacher works 11 hours per day with those in senior roles typically working 12.4 hours a day.

Workload is one of the biggest factors in teachers wanting to leave their jobs, with two in five expected to quit in the next five years.

This article looks at some practical tools to reduce teacher workload and the time spent on their everyday tasks.

Why do teachers have such a heavy workload?

One of the main time-sinks for teachers is admin. In a recent letter from the DfE to school leaders, more than 50% of a typical teacher’s time is taken up by non-teaching tasks such as planning, meetings, marking, data analysis and paperwork. Keeping all of these plates spinning takes time away that could otherwise be focused on teacher-student interaction.

The huge daily to-do list is one of the main reasons that teachers face burnout, and even mental health concerns.

Tools to reduce teacher workload

So, how can we alleviate the burdens on teachers and ease their stress? There are a number of tools out there that have the potential to streamline work currently sitting on the teacher to-do list. Here are some popular examples:

1) Collaboration tools:

Working with shared, collaborative tools can reduce teachers’ admin time. Storing material like student reports in a cloud-based system also means they can be easily accessed and shared. And, if a document needs input from several users, you can complete your section without having to wait. Using a system like the Google suite for Education, or Office 365, means that multiple users can collaborate easily, regardless of their location! What’s not to like?

2) Google Classroom:

This is a free web service for schools that aims to streamline file sharing between teachers and students through creating, distributing and grading assessments in a paperless way. It automatically organises student work, assignments and submissions into folders – so no more emailing files back and forth.

3) Get a handle on your to-do list:

There are some epic tools available, such as Trello, that allow you to get to grips with your to-do list on both individual and larger-scale, shared projects. Trello provides an at-a-glance overview of current projects, who’s working on them and the stage they’re at. Try tools like these out, they could prove super-useful and free up some much-needed headspace!

4) Marking tools:

Consider using apps and other automatic marking tools where you can. Socrative, Kahoot and Nearpod are just a few examples.

5) Use tech to schedule meetings:

Don’t let scheduling meetings bog you down: make use of Doodle polls to take the hassle out of finding workable dates and times!

Whilst technology can’t take care of everything, try to make it your friend and incorporate tools to reduce teacher workload into your working practices where they make life easier. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Would you like to find out more about how technology could support your teachers and benefit your school? Contact the expert team at Utility Rentals.