Ep. 32: What’s next in EdTECH at EduTECH?
Joachim Cohen:
Welcome to The Virtual Staffroom, a podcast made for teachers, by teachers, and all with the dash of educational technology training. My name is Joachim Cohen. And today, we've got an extra special and extra long edition in store for you as we unpack EduTECH 2022. Yes, you got it. One of the largest educational technology conferences in the world is back and The Virtual Staffroom team were there.
Joachim Cohen:
But before we begin, we would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land in which we are recording today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay our respect to elders, past as present, and also pay our respect to other traditional elders and other Indigenous people on whose country or through whose country this broadcast will travel.
Joachim Cohen:
Now today, there is no sign of Yvette, Linda, but we are welcoming a couple of new voices to the podcast.
Linda:
We are. We are lucky enough to have Mark Greentree, Executive Director, Digital Learning, who's not a stranger to The Staffroom, as well as Aimee Phillips, principal education officer of the stem.T4L and leading the teaching and learning component of the Rural Access Gap. Welcome.
Joachim Cohen:
And it in the fast-paced Virtual Staffroom style, it's time to get down to it. For those of you who are not aware or have never been, EduTECH is a huge conference. That includes loads of workshops, keynotes, as well as one of the biggest ed tech show floors you will ever see, and is the hot bed for ideas for the classroom, the staff room and the school. And today, we're going to unpack everything we saw, and share with you the nuggets of gold that might have impact on your classroom today or perhaps tomorrow. So, let's get the discussion going, team. What was the message that stuck with you after the conference? Aimee, let's begin with you.
Aimee Phillips:
Thanks, Joe. Well, I attended a huge range of sessions across the two days, so I feel like I came away with so many takeaway bags. I think, for me, my standout was around the concept of planning better for improved technology practice, whether that be at the school level, looking at the pathway towards building an organisational culture shift, that considers all stakeholders in the school community rather than just a single voice, and makes decisions that are incorporating students and teacher viewpoints in what they're using in the technology space.
Aimee Phillips:
But also, on an organisational level, the emphasis on planning for supporting our teachers as a collective was highlighted in a panel session that discussed whether technology was an enhancement or hindrance to literacy. All four panelists, I'm glad to say, we're on the enhancement side of the debate, but described in detail how, if we want our students to engage with, understand and create multi literacies, we need to invest heavily in the building teacher confidence and capacity. So therefore, to get them to understand and develop these digital aspects of the curriculum even more so, I thought that the planning for supporting teachers in the technology skill, confidence and capacity space was a huge theme. How about yourself, Linda?
Linda:
Pretty handy considering that's all the work you are leading at the moment, Aimee. But for me, I think I went to lots of sessions around how schools and larger educational organisations are utilising data to provide teachers and parents with insights about their students as learners, and also to the students themselves to guide where they want to go as learners. And I think there's work to be done around how we, as an organisation, can provide data to schools that is really digestible, but also supports them really quickly, rather than spending time on that data work. So that was probably a key thing for me. But the other really reflective thing was, New South Wales is doing great things in this space and we definitely were able to see, from other educational jurisdictions, that were on the right track and we've got a lot of collaboration to be had with other organisations as well. So yeah. What about you Mark?
Mark Greentree:
Thanks, Linda. Yeah, I felt like I was running around the whole two days that I was there, juggling between sitting on a very quiet floor and trying to have a few meetings back with people in Sydney. But at the same time, two, trying to see some of the key insights that come from particularly the Victorian government and the Victorian educational jurisdiction. I'm really keen and interested to see how other education systems in Australia manage technology in the delivery of education. And I was pleasantly surprised and amazed at some of the wonderful things that have been done in schools down there. Quite innovative, and I think there are things that we can look at modeling.
Mark Greentree:
However, I guess the other thing, aside from a few of the workshops that I went through that were quite inspiring and some great takeaway messages there as well, I think what struck me, and maybe the exhibition hall is a metaphor for the whole thing, is that it is such a huge space that you can literally get lost in ed tech. And sometimes we need to just refine our focus a little bit. Because if we just keep our eyes too wide open and too distracted, a bit like, past my own ADHD-type personality, I will just lose focus on what we need to do. So we need to focus on some of those key takeaways, maybe one or two of those stalls, look at some of those great ideas and then just double down on how we deliver those for our schools, so that we can really see some benefits.
Mark Greentree:
Because at the end of the day, we want improved student outcomes through the effective use of technology, not just using technology because it's cool. Because I saw a lot of cool technology, but I know that it just needs to be done right. And I'm really pleased and proud to see that the teams that run here, the T4L team and the innovation team, the DST, even the STEM team and the way we deliver it, that is exactly what we're focusing on. It's educational outcomes first, with real strong technology injection to bring that digital literacy up level with the literacy skills that we have for our kids today. How do you, Joe?
Joachim Cohen:
Yeah. Oh gosh, you guys are so insightful with those amazing comments. I totally hear what you are saying, Mark, about that need to focus. And I think it ties in with what Aimee's saying about planning and data was not something that resonated with me as well, Linda. What I took away from it was something that was mentioned in the opening keynote by Richard Culatta, who I think is the CEO of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, if I haven't got that wrong. There we go. And I think it was about this concept of needing to level up, and that we've created a really amazing base level of knowledge inside students and inside teachers on maybe how to use some basic use of ICT and digital technologies.
Joachim Cohen:
But the world doesn't stand still. And the jobs of the future now demand some really high-level skills in digital technologies. And I think as teachers, and for our students, what they need to do is realise that, well maybe one hour of code a year isn't enough and their level of skills need to be more than that. And how can we build our skills so that we can then build the skills of our students, is what really stood out for me. So I think we've got such an exciting time ahead. We've got this great base and now we can have something to leap from there.
Joachim Cohen:
So, what next? Well, I don't think this would be a conversation about EduTECH unless we talked a little bit about tech. So, was there one piece of technology that made you go, "Wow, it has got so much potential in the classroom," and Linda, you are going to start us out.
Linda:
Look, I think it was really interesting. The expo floor was probably pretty similar to the Easter show bag pavilion. It was quite overwhelming at times. There was lots of new, shiny things with potential. You can see how educators would get wrapped up in that expo floor and think, "That looks fantastic. I want to use it." But I was trying to really step back and think about, at a scaled piece, what could be utilised. And look, there were lots of great examples of the way some of our collaboration tools are used to support student learning, but in terms of one actual piece that made me go, "Wow," it probably wasn't there for me this year. Maybe next year. Mark, what made you go, "Wow."
Mark Greentree:
I always think of my stomach. So sustainable food and the production of sustainable food. They were printing stuff out literally that you could eat. And the cool thing is that it ties in, we do have a printer here that I recently discovered that also produces chocolate. So if you do look for me and I'm missing, I might be upstairs standing beside the printer, waiting for my chocolate to be produced. But the reason why it has that wow factor for me is, because we look at how we manage land, we look at how we manage the production of food and using a different way of coming around to it.
Mark Greentree:
I know Thermomix has been doing that for a long time, but printing out stuff, like pastries and chocolates and those types of things as a first step. It also comes back to another kit that we're about to put into play, which is our aeroponics kit, to teach students about food that you can grow and eat and consume. And that understanding leads, also, to further innovation, further innovation leads to, I guess, further progress in that area. And truly sustainable is what we are looking for with our use of technology.
Joachim Cohen:
So, interesting, Mark, because I think that it does tie into something that's very close to the hearts of our young people in schools at the moment, that message of sustainability, but also the fact that technology is becoming part of every single sector that exists now. And we don't just think about it in terms of a device, it's got so many more possibilities, and I think that's really exciting. And yeah, that was a really good suggestion there. I think they were also putting water inside some of those food objects to get people to hydrate. It's phenomenal. Blows your mind.
Joachim Cohen:
And I guess mine's a little bit like this as well. I didn't see anything that made me go, "Wow." There wasn't a lot there, a lot of iterations of things, but not great brand, new, exciting things. And mine was all about this idea of sustainability and repairability, and upgradability and efficiency. And I saw computers, which you can now actually undo and put in new hard drives, put in new pieces of memory. They're made from recyclable materials. And they think about that sustainability message. And they're thinking about power efficiency.
Joachim Cohen:
And that made me stand up and say, oh my gosh, we need to be starting to think about this now. Because our students care about it. We need to care about our footprint and what we're doing. And we don't want to see this huge amount of e-waste appearing. So that's the message that came through to me. I think there's loads of ways that we can go, but who knows what we might see included in the next T4L catalog. Aimee, what did you see?
Aimee Phillips:
I love that analogy of the show bag pavilion, because I definitely felt that. It's extremely overwhelming if you've never been to EduTECH before. And you're very much immersed in a lot of cool technology, I agree, Mark, but I think looking at it and looking at how we can utilise it effectively in the classroom space was something that I really looked for. So again, nothing stood out to me, but I have taken a different approach. What I found was the enhancements to accessibility and assistive technology tools, more than anything, showcased really well by the vendors.
Aimee Phillips:
So, I went to a lot of vendor sessions that showcased the personalisation of learning piece really effectively. And I'm really passionate about making sure our students in the classroom can access learning at their level with what they need, and they shouldn't have to be paying extra for apps or extra for add-ons for that. And I thought that in various sessions I saw, those pieces were so powerful. But turning on a little toggle or enabling a microphone or something like that, we can really showcase how students can take risks with their technology to access learning at their needs. It was awesome.
Joachim Cohen:
And that is so powerful, isn't it? Doesn't always just have to be physical products. There can be other great ways that we're enabling access for our students. And I think that sometimes we get wrapped up with those tools only being for a certain segment of our cohorts, but really, they provide so many advantages to everyone. The material becomes so much more accessible. Ah, what some great finds there, Aimee, that's for sure.
Joachim Cohen:
Now, the next thing that our listeners may not realise is that there are a lot of school presentations at EduTECH, and at the conference. And team, I'm just wondering, was there a story that you heard or that you saw that really warmed your heart and you think might inspire our listeners. Now, Linda, I think we're going to start with you on this one. Now people, I've been pointing at Linda throughout this session and she's going, "Oh, no, I don't know if I'm ready for this one." So I'm going to take it to Mark. Mark, did you see a story that warmed your heart?
Mark Greentree:
Yeah. Look, and it warmed my heart because of, I guess, the young women that presented on it and that's Bendigo Technology High. They're doing a great program down there for STEM and women in STEM. And they're working with a private company to actually strip down old, four-wheel drives and rebuild them as electric vehicles. Now, they had the Shazzie, the Range Rover they'd stripped down. They had video footage of the girls actually, tools in hands, grinders, welders, the whole kit. But just hearing one of the presenters stand up and talking about how she loved packing the axle with grease and ball bearings and just getting her hands right in there and doing the dirty stuff.
Mark Greentree:
And I can just see her being successful as a mechanic and as a future focused mechanic, too, looking at the new changes to the industry with regards to EV, and the proliferation of EV within the vehicle industry. She spoke with just such a massive passionate approach to the program, but also to the work. And some of her other fellow students were there talking about it and really engaging. Good to see that it was a program that actually connected with them properly, the way we desire education programs to connect with every student. And that was really inspiring, and I really got a kick out of just that particular presentation.
Joachim Cohen:
And there was a huge focus on the, I think, different types of skills that they were developing about renewable energy, about the whole engineering phase as well [inaudible 00:14:26] the connection.
Mark Greentree:
Absolutely. The way they spoke, they sounded like they were mechanics that had been working on cars for years, even to the point that they were dropping their -ings, and they were saying, "Yeah, yeah, I'll get my hands amongst it," and all that sort of stuff. It's quite funny just listening to them talk about it, but just such a passion for it. That's what I want for every student that I teach.
Joachim Cohen:
Oh, wow, that is a fantastic story. And you go and have a look at that one, look up Bendigo Tech School, find out what they're doing. That's for sure. I know one thing that I took away was really seeing some great stories around citizen science that was occurring. So, getting our students involved in actually contributing to global databases, to actually making meaning out of the options that the observations that they take inside their school environment.
Joachim Cohen:
And I heard some amazing passionate speakers just talk about the opportunities that are available to students and some of the programs that they've run and the successes that they've had, that have really inspired students to get outside, take technology out of the classroom, too, take photos, report those through to databases and really engage with making an impact. Aimee, what did you see?
Aimee Phillips:
Well, I'm really happy, because this was something that I highlighted in the program right from the get go. And the program is enormous at EduTECH as you know Joe. Being a First Nations person myself, I really looked for some of those Indigenous stories that were being told through technology. I feel really passionately about how technology can support Aboriginal education. And this particular piece was presented in an alignment piece. So not a single school story, but six secondary schools had come together in the Lilydale district.
Aimee Phillips:
And basically, under the initiative, it focused on the needs of local Indigenous students, improving student knowledge, cultural connections and things like attendance, Aboriginal inclusion. So they build a program based under the strategy that was implemented by the Vic Ed. And basically, it focused in and around using human-centered design thinking and emerging and current technologies that focused around yarning circles, workshops to solve real-life problems, combined with Aboriginal cultural practice, connections to industry for those Aboriginal students, and they presented that story.
Aimee Phillips:
And the one line that the speaker was saying is that a student stood up and said, "I only come to school for this." And I think just hearing that, I teared up, because I thought well, that's why you want your students to come to school. They should feel connected to their learning. So hopefully, we can bring back some of those ideas here. I connected really well with the people that led the program. Because we'd love to support some of our connected community schools in that space to feel the same and be connected in that space with technology.
Joachim Cohen:
That's so exciting, isn't it? Gee whiz, that makes you feel like that's exactly why we do this stuff. Absolutely, to make connection to young people, made it meaningful to them. Linda.
Linda:
I think similarly, I was at a session with Mount Waverly Heights Primary School and they talked about this, the journey their school has gone over the last couple of years. And I think it was really interesting to hear how the school stepped back to analyse what they're currently doing, what they want to do, where they want their school to go. And they've invested a great deal of time and energy in that thinking, but they've really done a great job at bringing their whole school community along. And they talked very honestly about the challenges that they were faced through that. And now, they're in a position where they've got really remarkable digital literacy, right through all of their programs, and just a great story of school success.
Joachim Cohen:
And that's not easy to achieve is it? You often see pockets of goodness inside a school, but to have a whole plan, have the community involved and on board, that's an amazing story.
Linda:
Yeah, it was really interesting.
Joachim Cohen:
Ah, wow, some great stories there and some great things to go and investigate or to think about. But finally, today, I always like to view EduTECH as a little bit of a crystal ball. It gives an eye to the future. So, what trends stood out to you, team? What do you think will have impact on New South Wales classrooms in the next five years? And Aimee, may I kick off with you on this one?
Aimee Phillips:
Thanks. There was a few themes that I thought and this isn't, I guess, a new trend that we would probably be predicting, but I think it's something that's probably needing to be built upon or even flipped. And it's around cyber safety and digital citizenship for me. So, not just for students but teachers and school communities. And the keynote speaker unpacked the reasons why we needed to flip that concept. And I thought that was really a different way of looking at it, in terms of the fact that we're constantly teaching students to protect themselves against cyber bullying.
Aimee Phillips:
But instead, we needed to teach them from the positive angle, which is around how to be a great cyber friend, which I thought was really carefully planned out for us to make sure that we're teaching from the positive. And I don't want to go into a Mark analogy, because he did use a really great analogy that I thought Mark would love around how you teach drivers with a seatbelt and things like that. But it was really something that stood out to me through the whole couple of days.
Aimee Phillips:
And I tended another panel session that highlighted the role of social media. And I think that's something that we're seeing come up more and more often within our schools that we work with. I think that need for support in that teacher space to how they can approach teaching, how students take in social media more than anything. But this particular panel is one of my favourites. Annabel Astbury from ABC, and we've spoken with her several times. But I think her highlight in that panel piece was ensuring our teachers feel supported to consume PL through social media.
Aimee Phillips:
And we know there's several places where our teachers get their PL from in that social media space. But it was about making sure that we're teaching them to utilise that PL space in a really calculating way, so that they're not putting pressure on themselves to have the aesthetics of their classroom look a certain way for the Grammers, I guess, the Insta users would say, but actually consuming what they need at their point of need, which I think is really important for social media. How about yourself?
Linda:
Look, maybe less of a trend, or something that I just think we all need to invest time in as educators, is considering what the last two or three years has taught us about learning and, obviously, hybrid learning was right across the conference, but looking it more deeply, and what do our teachers know about technology, really, post the pandemic and learning from home experiences? And what did our kids discover and where should that take what their learning experience looks like? I actually think that will continue to be a big part of the conversation for education over those next five years, and rightly so, and hopefully will move to a way where our students guide a bit more of their learning. That would be my ideal. But yeah, that's where I think it's headed. Mark, what's the trend that you think's going to come into our classrooms?
Mark Greentree:
Oh, I wish I went first, because Aimee took what I was going to say. But because Richard Culatta, he was great. I found his presentation to be the highlight, actually, for me, for that whole, in terms of keynote speaking, the highlight. There were so many takeaways and that whole positive use of technology. And I think it's really applicable at this point in time, particularly in light of media coverage recently, in both the state and nationwide, around the mobile uses, sorry, the use of mobile devices in schools.
Mark Greentree:
And the rhetoric seems to be about the banning of mobile device in schools. And I think it needs to be placed in a more positive field in terms of the effective management of devices in schools. Because we already know, based off our experience of COVID, and to again, quote Richard, moving from BC, before COVID, to AD, after disease, we've really taken some lessons with regards to there is true value in being able to use your device for learning opportunities, but there is also that very apparent distraction and the impact that it may have in terms of social interactions and well-being for younger people.
Mark Greentree:
But rather than place a ban on it, because quite often we've seen in society over a long period of time. As soon as you ban something, people desire it more and they actively seek it, but they simply go underground and you don't see it. And the prohibition of alcohol back in the 1930s is a prime example of when that occurred, right? So, we need the positive management of devices to enhance student learning and enhance students' interactions. And it doesn't mean we use devices all the time, but we just use them at the right time.
Mark Greentree:
And I think the other thing he was talking about was putting together a technology code of conduct, which was built around the dos rather than the don'ts and switching. I love the term that he used, which was the cyber friendly or cyber friendship, rather than cyber bullying. I think that's a key takeaway. But if I really want to jump to the nerd side of my brain, bioinformatics is just a fancy word I thought I'd dropped.
Linda:
I think you just wanted to say that word.
Mark Greentree:
I don't understand what it means. No. And bioinformatics is, I think, one of these things that we are going to see have a huge insight in education or impact in education. Insights is what the next phase of change, I think, in education. Because we all talk about data, data, data, really important. It's the insights that teach us something about what the data is telling us that is going to be huge. And what blew my mind in this presentation about bioinformatics was the fact that there are currently online repositories that people can actually go, that are powered by super computers.
Mark Greentree:
The data is stored there, it's public accessible and people are able to engage with that technology to basically collectively build a worldwide brain of information and knowledge. And the GenomeNet, the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and DNA Subway were just three publicly-available sites that you could go in and just fiddle around with literally super-powered computers to just, who knows, find the next cure for cancer.
Joachim Cohen:
Wow. And I'm sure some of our students will be doing this. They'll see these databases and be totally engrossed by what they could locate and what problems they could solve. Unbelievable, Mark. What some takeaways they were. That's for sure. And I guess, to finish off with that, and I think all these trends are so, so relevant when we do think about the learning that we've had. And we really do think about that shift in cyber safety to cyber friend. I really like it. Absolutely.
Joachim Cohen:
I found that there were a lot of industry partnerships going on, and I think Mark talked about one earlier. And there was a great one that the Victorian Department of Education had done, where they were using Minecraft to explore what a new station would look like and get some design ideas. And I think that that authenticity that we can provide to student challenges, through our linkages with industry, was something that really stood out and that I'm really excited about and I hope we see more of.
Joachim Cohen:
Because I think the value that we place on students as problem-solvers is really increasing and it isn't tokenistic anymore. So hopefully, that's something we'll see more of. And I know if you look at the latest edition of T4L Kids magazine, you might find one. So, there's another thing to explore. Now, I think we've come to the end of this podcast. So Linda, what do you reckon? How did our new recruits do?
Linda:
They did super well.
Joachim Cohen:
Will we be asking them back?
Linda:
If they want to come back.
Joachim Cohen:
Ah, we'll see. Waiting, the invitation may be in the mail, Mark and Aimee. And listeners, don't forget, for more information on everything we talked about today, make sure you check out the EduTECH website, where you'll find links to all of the things that we've talked about today.
Joachim Cohen:
Have you had enough of EduTECH? No? I thought not. Well, lucky enough, our next episode continues the theme as you come behind the scenes of the expo's floor, with me as your guide, as we explore the latest tech tools for your classroom. It's one not to be missed, so make sure you hit subscribe to be the first to listen.
Joachim Cohen:
Mark, Aimee, it has been our pleasure. Thanks for your time, your insights, your thoughts, and your vision. And listeners, if you have any thoughts or comments to share or questions to ask, make sure you jump to our T4L teacher community on Teams, the source of all things awesome.
Joachim Cohen:
This podcast has been produced by the masterful Jacob Druce, with the assistant and supreme coordination of many more awesome members of the T4L team. Stay awesome, stay innovative, everyone. And don't forget Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your ed tech vision. Start with one thing, something small and achievable, and make magic from there. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 5:
Just a little note, please be aware that all views expressed by the podcast presenters, that's us, are our personal opinions and not representative of the New South Wales Department of Education. Discussions aren't endorsements of third-party products, services, or events. And please note, that as much as we sound like it, we are not experts in legalese, tech speak or anything in between. We're just passionate people, keen to boost technology for learning in the classroom and to help build the skills in your students and for you to solve the problems of tomorrow. Do your due diligence, read further, and if we've got something wrong, let us know. We, too, are always learning and always improving.