AN EAST Lancashire entre-preneur and philanthropist has received an honorary award from Edge Hill University.

Tony Cann, the founder of Blackburn technology firm Promethean , was hailed for his efforts in education.

Promethean is a world leader in interactive whiteboards for classrooms.

Speaking after the ceremony, he said: “I am particularly grateful to receive this honour from this university because it recognises and confirms that to make real substantial improvements in teaching , not just tinkering at the edges, we have to use a new pedagogy.

“I am pleased too because it is in this university that there is a group led by the Dean that is also driven and dedicated to making a real difference in the quality of teaching, not just meeting average statistics, and succeeding. It is out of character for me to have such profuse public knowledge for it is my view that it is just my good luck to be in the position to pursue my dreams.”

Promethean’s first interactive whiteboards were introduced in 1996 and production doubled every year for the first 10 years.

They are now used in nearly one million classrooms world-wide, influencing the lives of twice as many teachers and 50 million children.

Mr Cann said: “Teachers have a very difficult job, and it is almost impossible for even the very best to develop the full potential of all those they teach. They need help and technology in the classroom can provide this help by providing feedback in real time and by helping teachers with superb resources. I am driven to make this happen.”

His honorary award, which was given in recognition of his outstanding work that reson-ates closely with the work of Edge Hill University in the world of business and educ-ation, was conferred from the University’s Chancellor Professor Tanya Byron in a ceremony on the Ormskirk campus.