Guest Introductions and Educational Technology Insights

Digital Transformation!  Digital Strategy!  Professional Education!  What do they mean, and how do we implement them in a school?  In today's episode we’re very lucky to have on three wonderful guests who operate at the intersection of educational practice and the leveraging of technology for a better learning experience.  They are:  

• James Symons, CEO, LocknCharge 
• Katie Novak, Education Strategist, Smart Technologies 
• Associate Professor Jane Hunter, School of International Studies and Education, University of Technology, Sydney 

Each of these guests has a long history of working within the education space, from engineering and installing the hardware and catering to the evolving demands of schools, to leveraging the technology as a communal bridge between parents, teachers and students, and finally to researching and understanding the added value such technologies provide for teachers and learners and how they might successfully incorporate their use into daily practice. 

Talking points and questions include: 

• The evolving demands of the classroom – what futureproofing and future planning exists in each of your spaces to accommodate new trends and developments?  For those catering to the hardware, does the school or college determine what you make, or are they, and the ways their teachers and learners perform, conditioned by you?  What space is there for reciprocity between the EdTech maker and the EdTech user? 

• Teacher professional education – how important is this?  Surely a learning tool lives and dies by the amount of training and ‘after-sales support’ is provided to practitioners?  What is the extent of the refusal by a teacher or department to adopt the technology and how is this overcome?  Is it just waving statistics about time-saving and cost-saving in their faces or is there a form of trust that must be engendered? 

• Digital strategy – this means different things to different stakeholders.  What are the commonalities that should be agreed upon for successful rollout of technology?  Obviously contextual factors are key to each school, but what are the non-negotiables?  And with regard to developments like generative AI and other future trends we can’t even predict yet, what kinds of guardrails need to be in place with teachers, leaders, and the developers of the tech to ensure ongoing supportive relationships with stakeholders.  What foundations should be in place to support digital transformation no matter the bumps in the road ahead? 

Material discussed in today's episode includes:

• LocknCharge classroom solutions to facilite mobile device workflow and management 
• Improving Access & Outcomes Through Student & Teaching Voice: EdTech Assessment in the Cherry Hill Public Schools
• Australia and the Digital Education Revolution
• Jane Hunter: High Possibility STEM Classrooms and Technology Integration and High Possibility Classrooms
• Smart Technology: EdTech Assessment Tool
• Uruguay and Ceibal Project